George Mann (cricketer)
Francis George Mann, was an [List of England cricket team|England cricket captains|English] Test cricket captain, who played for Cambridge University, MCC, Middlesex and England. 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. Colin and Chris Cowdrey are the only other father and son to be so honoured.
Early life and education
Born in 1917 at Byfleet, Surrey, the elder son of Frank Mann and Enid Tilney, only daughter of Commander George Adams Tilney, 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.Mann was educated at Eton College, an all-boys public school, where he captained the school's cricket XI in 1936, and joined the Eton College Contingent Officers' Training Corps as a cadet under-officer. He then went up to Pembroke College, Cambridge, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree. Whilst at Cambridge, he was awarded two cricket blues playing for Cambridge University Cricket Club in 1938 and 1939.
Military service
Mann served in the British Army during the Second World War, having joined up prior to its outbreak. Commissioned, on 8 July 1939, into the Royal Welch Fusiliers as a second lieutenant, he was transferred to the Scots Guards on 13 March 1940. Awarded the Military Cross in 1942, on 28 June 1945, Captain Mann was appointed a Companion of the Distinguished Service Order "in recognition of gallant and distinguished services in Italy".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. Upon reaching the age limit, Major Mann resigned his commission on 6 September 1967 being permitted to retain his honorary rank.
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". 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.Chairman of the Test and County Cricket Board from 1978 to 1983, 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".
Appointed CBE in 1983, Mann served as President of Marylebone Cricket Club for 1984/85.
Business interests
Mann was a main board director of Mann, Crossman & Paulin, retaining his position on the new company board when the family brewery merged with Watney Combe & Reid in 1958.Master of the Brewers' Company for 1960/61, 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, having three sons and one daughter.Mann lived at Great Farm on the West Woodhay estate with his wife who predeceased him in 1995, and died on 8 August 2001 at Stockcross, Berkshire.
Their eldest son, Captain Simon Mann, 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.