George Mann was born at Byfleet, Surrey in 1917 and captained Eton, before representing Cambridge University in 1938 and 1939. A powerful middle-order batsman particularly strong on the leg-side, he once hit a six straight over the main football stand roof at Headingley on to the adjacent rugby field. Playing for Middlesex from 1937 to 1954 he played 166 first-class matches, scoring 6,350 runs with a career best 136 n.o. for England versus South Africa at Port Elizabeth in 1948/49. Captaining the county in 1948 and 1949, he was unable to lead the 1950/51 M.C.C. tour to Australia due to commitments in his family owned brewery, but still played 7 Tests between 1948 and 1949. The Mann family provided the only example of successive generations skippering England in a single Test. He later acted as TCCB Chairman from 1978 to 1983 following the 'Packer' affair and subsequently became President of M.C.C. in 1984/85. He died in 2001.
