Tufty Mann - Test Cricketer in England

Test Cricketer in England

The 1947 English cricket season was dominated by the batting exploits of Denis Compton and Bill Edrich, who both broke records for the numbers of runs scored in a season. Mann's accuracy was one of the few factors that could subdue the English pair, and his first bowling in Test cricket, in the first game of the five-match series, was a spell of eight successive maidens; he finished the innings with figures of no wickets for 10 runs in 20 overs. He followed that up when England followed on with second-innings figures of one for 94 in 60 overs: the single wicket that he took was that of Compton, but Compton had made 163 by that stage and the match was easily saved.

The first Test figures illustrated Mann's value to the South African side, but also his limitations. "Mann rarely departed from his orthodox going-away ball on the middle or off stump and on account of his low trajectory batsmen seldom were able to get to the pitch," Wisden wrote. In a warm summer with lots of sunshine, Mann was often used as a defensive bowler, but when there was a helpful wicket, he was at times able to impart some spin to the ball: Wisden recorded in the third Test, as England chased a small target for victory on a worn pitch, that "Mann's left-arm leg-breaks began to turn nastily... Hutton and Compton found this to their cost" as Mann dismissed both before the match was won by England.

In the Test series as a whole, which England won by three matches to nil, with two draws, Mann was the South Africans' most successful bowler, taking 15 wickets at an average of 40.20 and bowling 329.5 overs: an economy rate of 1.83 runs an over. He conceded less than two runs an over when Edrich (189) and Compton (208) shared a third-wicket partnership of 370 in the second Test, and ended the stand by bowling Edrich, his only wicket in the match. His best bowling return of the series in a single innings came in the fourth game, when he took four for 68 in 50 overs in England's first innings. And in the final match he took four for 93 in 64 overs and followed that up with two for 102 in 27 overs – England were hitting out to secure a declaration in a high-scoring match that ended as a draw.

In all first-class matches, Mann took 74 wickets at an average of 25.25 and bowled 351 maiden overs. He had particular success in a late-season match against Kent when he followed first-innings bowling of six for 132 with a second-innings return of seven for 95. His batting was occasionally successful too: against Glamorgan he hit 97 in 55 minutes, including a six and 13 fours, and was out to "a deep-field catch" going for his century. This would remain his highest first-class score.