Lives in Cricket No 42 - Frank and George Mann

83 Chapter Fifteen Post-War Gloom and a Glorious Summer Before the first post-war season started in 1946, Ian Peebles, who had lost the use of an eye in a German bombing raid on London, advised Middlesex that he would be unable to play on a regular basis and therefore had to withdraw as captain. But he was pleased to learn that ‘By a stroke of good luck Walter Robins was available and willing to do a couple of seasons as captain in order to get the club established again.’ One of Robins’ priorities had to be finding a successor who would follow his doctrine of positive cricket. George Mann looked a strong candidate but unfortunately he had an accident on an escalator on the London Underground and damaged an ankle which prevented him from playing any cricket in 1946. 43 Taking advantage of his enforced absence from cricket, he decided to use the opportunity to learn more about the business management of the family firm of Mann, Crossman and Paulin. His return to the brewery was welcomed and in due course he was given a place on the board of directors. Before the start of the 1947 season, the Board agreed that he should also be permitted to follow in his father’s footsteps and divide his time between cricket in the summer and management duties for the rest of the year. To ensure that his absence would be covered at the brewery, two other new directors were appointed, cousins Edward Charles Mann and Percival Ramsay Mann, bringing the company back under the control of the Mann family who now occupied 50% of the board, while Sir John Mann, who had succeeded Sir Edward Mann on his death in 1944, continued as chairman. Every effort was now concentrated on returning the brewery to its pre-war dominance of the London market. Although not being able to play cricket himself in 1946, George would have been able to watch Middlesex as often as work allowed, wondering perhaps if he could recover his pre-war form and earn a place again with such a talented group of players. In 1945 the counties had all agreed that from 1946 the County Championship would no longer be determined by arcane mathematical calculations involving points and percentages as each county would play the same number of matches. Naturally, Middlesex expected to be strong contenders for the title and made a great start to the season. By the end of May they were level with Yorkshire and Lancashire although they had made an early start and played two games more. They lost to Yorkshire at Lord’s but then won all the next five games to bring them back into contention. John Pelham Mann had decided not to return to Cambridge to complete his degree in 1946 and, while considering his career options, he accepted a call from Robins to play for Middlesex in 43 The News Chronicle Cricket Annual of 1946 had listed him as likely to play.