George Mann (cricketer)

Francis George Mann Template:Post-nominals (6 September 1917 – 8 August 2001), was an English Test cricket captain, who played for Cambridge University, MCC, Middlesex and England.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> A member of the Mann baronets brewing family, he was also a decorated Army officer.

As a cricketer, George Mann was a right-handed middle-order batsman. His father, Frank Mann, also captained England, making them the first father and son to both captain England.<ref name="Cap">Template:Cite book</ref> Colin and Chris Cowdrey are the only other father and son to be so honoured.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Early life and education

Born in 1917 at Byfleet, Surrey,<ref name="WWW">'MANN, (Francis) George', Who Was Who, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 1920–2016; online edn, Oxford University Press, 2014; online edn, April 2014 accessed 24 Nov 2017</ref><ref name="obit Ind">Template:Cite news</ref> the elder son of Frank Mann and Enid Tilney (died 1976), only daughter of Commander George Adams Tilney Template:Post-nominals, his younger brother was John Pelham Mann. Owners of the brewery Watney Mann, he was in remainder to the family title created for his grandfather Sir Edward Mann, 1st Baronet.<ref>www.thegazette.co.uk</ref>

Mann was educated at Eton College, an all-boys public school, where he captained the school's cricket XI in 1936,<ref name="obit Tele">Template:Cite news</ref> and joined the Eton College Contingent Officers' Training Corps<ref>www.etoncollege.com</ref> as a cadet under-officer.<ref name="LG 34643" /> He then went up to Pembroke College, Cambridge, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree.<ref name="WWW" /> Whilst at Cambridge, he was awarded two cricket blues playing for Cambridge University Cricket Club in 1938 and 1939.<ref name="obit Tele" />

Military service

Mann served in the British Army during the Second World War, having joined up prior to its outbreak.<ref name="obit Tele" /> Commissioned, on 8 July 1939, into the Royal Welch Fusiliers as a second lieutenant,<ref name="LG 34643">Template:London Gazette</ref> he was transferred to the Scots Guards on 13 March 1940.<ref name="LG 34809">Template:London Gazette</ref> Awarded the Military Cross (MC) in 1942,<ref name="obit Ind" /> on 28 June 1945, Captain (temporary Major) Mann was appointed a Companion of the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) "in recognition of gallant and distinguished services in Italy".<ref name="LG 37151">Template:London Gazette</ref>

Continuing his military service after the War, on 8 July 1949, he was transferred from the Supplementary Reserve to the Regular Army Reserve of Officers as an honorary major.<ref name="LG 38659">Template:London Gazette</ref> Upon reaching the age limit, Major Mann resigned his commission on 6 September 1967 being permitted to retain his honorary rank.<ref name="LG 44401">Template:London Gazette</ref>

Cricketing career

Mann captained England in each of his seven Test matches, winning two and drawing the other five; his father had also been captain in every Test he played. Wisden said of Mann: "as a captain he was ideal, zealous to a degree, and considerate in all things at all times".<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> After leading England in South Africa in 1948/49, Mann captained two Tests the following summer, before he stood down citing inability to participate regularly due to family brewing commercial commitments (Mann, Crossman & Paulin).<ref name="Red Barrel">Template:Cite book</ref>

Chairman of the Test and County Cricket Board (TCCB) from 1978 to 1983,<ref name="obit Ind" /> he was in office during the controversy over the rebel tour, led by Geoff Boycott and Graham Gooch, to South Africa in 1982. Mann wore several hats, but he "handled this assorted millinery with … diplomacy and charm".<ref>www.acscricket.com</ref>

Appointed CBE in 1983, Mann served as President of Marylebone Cricket Club for 1984/85.<ref>www.lords.org</ref>

Business interests

Mann was a main board director of Mann, Crossman & Paulin, retaining his position on the new company board (Watney Mann) when the family brewery merged with Watney Combe & Reid in 1958.<ref name="Red Barrel" />

Master of the Brewers' Company for 1960/61,<ref>www.brewershall.co.uk</ref> he also served as non-exec Deputy Chairman of the Extel Group from 1980 to 1986.

Personal life

In 1949, Mann married Margaret Hildegarde Marshall Clark, elder daughter of Colonel William Marshall Clark Template:Post-nominals,<ref>www.thegazette.co.uk</ref> having three sons and one daughter.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Mann lived at Great Farm on the West Woodhay estate with his wife who predeceased him in 1995,<ref name="WWW" /> and died on 8 August 2001 at Stockcross, Berkshire.<ref name="obit Ind" />

Their eldest son, Captain Simon Mann (ex-SAS), was sentenced for thirty-four years in Equatorial Guinea in 2008, on charges related to an attempted coup in 2004, before being pardoned on 2 November 2009.

Honours

File:Medal, order (AM 2001.25.1086-3).jpg

CBE insignia

Among other honours and decorations, Mann received :

• File:Order of the British Empire (Civil) Ribbon.svg – CBE (1983)
• File:Dso-ribbon.svg – DSO (1945)
• File:Military cross BAR.svg – MC (1942)

See also

• Mann baronets

External links

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• Debrett's Peerage & Baronetage