Alfred Mynn
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Alfred Mynn | ||||
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 England |
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| Personal information | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Alfred Mynn | |||
| Nickname | Lion of Kent | |||
| Born | 19 January 1807 | |||
| Goudhurst, Kent, England | ||||
| Died | 1 November 1861 (aged 54) | |||
| Southwark, London, England | ||||
| Role | All-rounder | |||
| Batting style | Right-handed | |||
| Bowling style | Right arm fast (roundarm) | |||
| Domestic team information | ||||
| Years | Team | |||
| 1834 – 1859 | Kent | |||
| 1839 – 1847 | Sussex | |||
| 1844 | Hampshire | |||
| Career statistics | ||||
| First-class | ||||
| Matches | 212 | |||
| Runs scored | 4955 | |||
| Batting average | 13.42 | |||
| 100s/50s | 1/unknown | |||
| Top score | 125* | |||
| Balls bowled | unknown | |||
| Wickets | 1036 | |||
| Bowling average | 10.22 | |||
| 5 wickets in innings | 92 | |||
| 10 wickets in match | 33 | |||
| Best bowling | 9/? | |||
| Catches/stumpings | 125/– | |||
|
As of 1 November 1861 |
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Alfred Mynn (19 January 1807-1 November 1861) was an English cricketer during the game's "Roundarm Era". He was a genuine all-rounder, being both an attacking right-handed batsman and a formidable right arm fast bowler. The noted cricket writer John Woodcock ranked him as the fourth greatest cricketer of all time.[1] Simon Wilde wrote of him: "The speed at which Mynn bowled... and his life-size personality captured the imagination of the public in a way no cricketer had before."[2]
Mynn was born at Twisden, near Goudhurst in Kent, the fourth son of a gentleman farmer. He was a hop farmer, and was married in 1828. Five of his daughters survived to adulthood.
He was a very large man by any standard, bearing comparison with WG Grace. He was well over six feet tall and weighed more than 300 pounds (21 stones). He was known as "the Lion of Kent"[3] and it was for Kent that most of his greatest feats occurred, though he also played a substantial number of matches for Sussex, MCC and the All-England Eleven (AEE). His brother, Walter Parker Mynn, was also an early cricketer with the Kent team.[4]
Alfred Mynn's "first-class" career, which excludes most of his AEE appearances, was from 1832 to 1859. He played in 213 first-class matches.
As a batsman he had 395 innings including 26 not out. He scored 4,955 runs at 13.42 with a highest score of 125*. He made only one century, scored for South v North at Leicester in 1836. He suffered an ankle injury before the match, and batted without leg guards. His legs were badly bruised in the process, and his captain, Lord Frederick Beauclerk sent him back to London laid out on the top of a stagecoach. The doctors at St Bartholomew's Hospital debated whether his leg should be amputated, but fortunately he fully recovered.[5] He also scored 12 fifties and took 125 catches. It should be remembered when studying the batting records of players in this era that prevailing conditions greatly favoured bowlers.
Even with that in mind, Mynn's known bowling figures are still impressive. He took at least 1,038 wickets for 3,261 known runs at the outstanding average of 10.22. The number of overs and maidens he bowled is unknown and neither is his best analysis except that it was a 9 wicket haul. Mynn is known to have taken five wickets in an innings on 93 occasions and 10 wickets in a match 34 times.
He was bankrupted several times, and once imprisoned for debt. He died at Newington near Southwark.
William Jeffrey Prowse wrote what was to become one of the most famous pieces of cricket poetry in his memory. The first six stanzas compare Mynn with his contemporaries. The poem closes with these lines:
- With his tall and stately presence, with his nobly moulded form,
- His broad hand was ever open, his brave heart was ever warm;
- All were proud of him, all loved him. As the changing seasons pass,
- As our champion lies a-sleeping underneath the Kentish grass,
- Proudly, sadly will we name him - to forget him were a sin.
- Lightly lie the turf upon thee, kind and manly Alfred Mynn![6]
[edit] References
- ^ John Woodcock's 100 greatest cricketers
- ^ Simon Wilde, Number One: The World's Best Batsmen and Bowlers, Victor Gollancz, 1998, ISBN 0-575-06453-6, p34.
- ^ "Alfred Mynn" Cricinfo - statistics and profile.
- ^ Walter Mynn's details
- ^ "Mynn's majestic innings - and the birth of leg-guards", Cricinfo, 18 December 2004
- ^ "Alfred Mynn - the mighty man of rustic Kent", Cricinfo, 13 September 1963
- Morrah, Patrick. Alfred Mynn and the Cricketers of his Time, Constable. 1986. ISBN 0-09-467020-X
[edit] External links
- "Alfred Mynn" Cricketarchive - statistics of Mynn's career.
- "Alfred Mynn" Cricinfo - statistics and profile.
- "Alfred Mynn - the mighty man of rustic Kent", Cricinfo, 13 September 1963
- "Mynn's majestic innings - and the birth of leg-guards", Cricinfo, 18 December 2004
