The Stories of Cricket's Finest Painting by Jonathan Rice

Author:Jonathan Rice
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Pitch Publishing
Published: 2019-06-15T00:00:00+00:00

The Solid All-Rounder

At first slip in Chevallier Tayler’s painting is Jack Mason. John Richard Mason, always known as Jack, was born at Blackheath on 26 March 1874, one of seven brothers, two of whom, Charles and James, also played first-class cricket. He was described in the 1907 Kent History as ‘perhaps the finest all-round gentleman player Kent has ever had’, and his statistics lend support to that claim. He was educated at Winchester College in Hampshire, and played for four years in their first XI, captaining the side in his final year, 1893. Writing in the 1894 Wisden, C.B. Fry stated that ‘there can be no doubt that J.R. Mason was the best public school bat of the year …. His success for Kent stamps him as a performer of phenomenal merit.’ Fry predicted a fine future for the young man. To many men who had seen both players in their prime, Mason reminded them of Walter Hammond, the great Gloucestershire player of the interwar years, straight of back, leaning into a supremely elegant and powerful cover drive or cut, bowling energetic fast-medium and quite brilliant in any close catching position.

Despite being a pupil at the intensely academic Winchester College, Mason, like Hutchings a few years later, did not go on to Oxford or Cambridge, or indeed any university, but instead became articled to a firm of solicitors as he studied for his qualifications as a lawyer, and this allowed him to play cricket for Kent, to the exclusion of almost everything else. It would be wrong to suggest that his period of studying for the law was as long as W.G. Grace’s years of studying to be a doctor, but there is little doubt that Mason’s heart was on the cricket field rather than among his law books for the first years of his adult cricketing life.

Mason made his first-class debut on 27 July 1893, at the age of 19, opening the batting for Kent against Sussex at Beckenham, only a few days after leaving Winchester for the last time. He made 31 and 14 not out as Kent won by nine wickets, a promising debut indeed. Kent kept him in their side for the rest of the summer. At Blackheath, they lost by an innings to Yorkshire, but Mason had the satisfaction of his first bowl for Kent, and his first two wickets. His first match for Kent at Canterbury was particularly memorable, as it was against the visiting Australians, and Kent won by 36 runs, after following on. Mason did not do much, scoring only 14 and 18 as opener, and took just one wicket, but the experience of being in a side that bowled out the Australians for 60 when they needed only 97 to win would remain with him for a long time. The Australian bowling attack of Giffen, Trumble, Harry Trott and Turner should have been enough to ensure an Australian victory, but Alec Hearne, Mason’s opening partner, took 5 for 35 and Walter Wright 4 for 24 in the tourists’ second innings, and gained a great victory.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.