Frank Mitchell
Encyclopedia
Frank Mitchell was a cricket
er and rugby union
player.
and captained the school side for two years before moving to Brighton
, where he took up employment as a schoolmaster for another two years. This meant that when he went up to Cambridge University
, where he was admitted to Caius College, he was older and more experienced than many of his contemporaries, and he swiftly moved into the University side, where he remained from 1894
to 1897
. It was as captain of the University side in 1896
that Mitchell became mired in a little controversy when he instructed his bowler to give away runs so that Oxford University
would not be required to follow-on
their innings
(at the time sides surrendering an 80 run deficit in the first innings were required to follow-on). Protests came from both the Pavilion and in newspapers about this. The tactic itself, however, did not help Cambridge win - they went on to lose the match by four wickets.
In 1894
Mitchell first played for Yorkshire
, and in 1898-99 he was selected to tour South Africa
with Lord Hawke. It was on this tour that he played two representative matches for England
that later became recognized as official Test matches
. His performance on that tour helped consolidate his place in the Yorkshire squad for the following season.
, which saw him miss the entire 1900 English cricket season
. In 1901
he was back playing for Yorkshire, making seven centuries in a season that earned him the accolade as one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year
in 1902. In the 1901-02 winter, Mitchell toured America with Bernard Bosanquet
's team, but left early as he had made arrangements to go to Johannesburg
. Whilst in Johannesburg he played cricket for the Transvaal
, whom he captained to success in the Currie Cup
, South Africa's domestic first-class cricket
competition, in 1902-03 and 1903-04. When he returned to England in 1904
it was as captain of the South African cricket team
, which makes him one of the fourteen players to have played Test cricket for more than one country. Mitchell's first-class cricket career was then at a hiatus, until he returned to captain South Africa in a disastrous campaign in the 1912 Triangular Tournament
in England.
Mitchell later returned to England, playing first-class cricket only once more, for the Marylebone Cricket Club
against Cambridge University in 1914
.
In the First World War he returned to active duty, rose to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel and was mentioned in despatches.
and at putting the weight. He was also captained at rugby. Mitchell went on to play for Blackheath and won six caps for England
at rugby between 1895
and 1896
as a forward in what was recognized as a very strong pack. He also kept goal for Sussex at soccer.
Mitchell also wrote about rugby. For example, he contributed a chapter entitled Forward Play to a book by Bertram Fletcher Robinson
, Rugby Football (London: The Isthmian Library, 1896), recently republished in facsimile form.
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
er and rugby union
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
player.
School, University and Yorkshire
Mitchell was schooled at St Peter's School in YorkYork
York is a walled city, situated at the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. The city has a rich heritage and has provided the backdrop to major political events throughout much of its two millennia of existence...
and captained the school side for two years before moving to Brighton
Brighton
Brighton is the major part of the city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, England on the south coast of Great Britain...
, where he took up employment as a schoolmaster for another two years. This meant that when he went up to Cambridge University
Cambridge University Cricket Club
Cambridge University Cricket Club is a first-class cricket team. It now plays all but one of its first-class cricket matches as part of the Cambridge University Centre of Cricketing Excellence , which includes Anglia Ruskin University...
, where he was admitted to Caius College, he was older and more experienced than many of his contemporaries, and he swiftly moved into the University side, where he remained from 1894
1894 English cricket season
The 1894 English cricket season saw a close battle play out for the County Championship title between Surrey and last year's champions Yorkshire. Before the round of 23 August, the two teams were tied on 10 points, with one match left to play and all other teams hopelessly distanced...
to 1897
1897 English cricket season
The 1897 English cricket season saw Lancashire win the County Championship title for the first time in the official running of the Championship, thanks mainly to only three losses in twenty-six matches. Surrey won more games, and beat Lancashire twice, but one more loss than Lancashire meant that...
. It was as captain of the University side in 1896
1896 English cricket season
The 1896 English cricket season saw Yorkshire win the County Championship title after only losing three of 26 games, setting a points percentage record with 68.42...
that Mitchell became mired in a little controversy when he instructed his bowler to give away runs so that Oxford University
Oxford University Cricket Club
Oxford University Cricket Club is a first-class cricket team, representing the University of Oxford. It plays its home games at the University Parks in Oxford, England...
would not be required to follow-on
Follow-on
Follow-on is a term used in the sport of cricket to describe a situation where the team that bats second is forced to take its second batting innings immediately after its first, because the team was not able to get close enough to the score achieved by the first team batting in the first innings...
their innings
Innings
An inning, or innings, is a fixed-length segment of a game in any of a variety of sports – most notably cricket and baseball during which one team attempts to score while the other team attempts to prevent the first from scoring. In cricket, the term innings is both singular and plural and is...
(at the time sides surrendering an 80 run deficit in the first innings were required to follow-on). Protests came from both the Pavilion and in newspapers about this. The tactic itself, however, did not help Cambridge win - they went on to lose the match by four wickets.
In 1894
1894 English cricket season
The 1894 English cricket season saw a close battle play out for the County Championship title between Surrey and last year's champions Yorkshire. Before the round of 23 August, the two teams were tied on 10 points, with one match left to play and all other teams hopelessly distanced...
Mitchell first played for Yorkshire
Yorkshire County Cricket Club
Yorkshire County Cricket Club represents the historic county of Yorkshire as one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure....
, and in 1898-99 he was selected to tour South Africa
South African cricket team
The South African national cricket team represent South Africa in international cricket. They are administrated by Cricket South Africa.South Africa is a full member of the International Cricket Council, also known as ICC, with Test and One Day International, or ODI, status...
with Lord Hawke. It was on this tour that he played two representative matches for England
English cricket team
The England and Wales cricket team is a cricket team which represents England and Wales. Until 1992 it also represented Scotland. Since 1 January 1997 it has been governed by the England and Wales Cricket Board , having been previously governed by Marylebone Cricket Club from 1903 until the end...
that later became recognized as official Test matches
Test cricket
Test cricket is the longest form of the sport of cricket. Test matches are played between national representative teams with "Test status", as determined by the International Cricket Council , with four innings played between two teams of 11 players over a period of up to a maximum five days...
. His performance on that tour helped consolidate his place in the Yorkshire squad for the following season.
South Africa
Mitchell returned to South Africa in the Yorkshire Dragoons, where he fought in the Second Boer WarSecond Boer War
The Second Boer War was fought from 11 October 1899 until 31 May 1902 between the British Empire and the Afrikaans-speaking Dutch settlers of two independent Boer republics, the South African Republic and the Orange Free State...
, which saw him miss the entire 1900 English cricket season
1900 English cricket season
The 1900 English cricket season saw Yorkshire finish the season unbeaten in the County Championship, the first time this had happened since the start of the official championship in 1890. They therefore became county champions, while defending champions Surrey finished in the middle of the pack in...
. In 1901
1901 English cricket season
Yorkshire defended their County Championship title in the 1901 English cricket season, though, unlike in 1900, they lost one game during the season, to 12th-placed Somerset....
he was back playing for Yorkshire, making seven centuries in a season that earned him the accolade as one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year
Wisden Cricketers of the Year
The Wisden Cricketers of the Year are cricketers selected for the honour by the annual publication Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, based primarily on their "influence on the previous English season"...
in 1902. In the 1901-02 winter, Mitchell toured America with Bernard Bosanquet
Bernard Bosanquet (cricketer)
Bernard James Tindal Bosanquet was an English cricketer best known for inventing the googly, a delivery designed to deceive the batsman. When bowled, it appears to be a leg break, but after pitching the ball turns in the opposite direction to that which is expected, behaving as an off break instead...
's team, but left early as he had made arrangements to go to Johannesburg
Johannesburg
Johannesburg also known as Jozi, Jo'burg or Egoli, is the largest city in South Africa, by population. Johannesburg is the provincial capital of Gauteng, the wealthiest province in South Africa, having the largest economy of any metropolitan region in Sub-Saharan Africa...
. Whilst in Johannesburg he played cricket for the Transvaal
Transvaal cricket team
Gauteng cricket team is the first-class cricket team of the province of Gauteng in South Africa....
, whom he captained to success in the Currie Cup
SuperSport Series
The SuperSport Series is the main domestic first class cricket competition in South Africa, first contested in 1889-90. From 1990-91 it became known as the Castle Cup, and from 1996-97 by its current title...
, South Africa's domestic first-class cricket
First-class cricket
First-class cricket is a class of cricket that consists of matches of three or more days' scheduled duration, that are between two sides of eleven players and are officially adjudged first-class by virtue of the standard of the competing teams...
competition, in 1902-03 and 1903-04. When he returned to England in 1904
1904 English cricket season
In the 1904 English cricket season Lancashire went through the County Championship unbeaten, which was enough to clinch the Championship title. Lancashire drew ten games, but their 16 wins were still more than any other team could muster...
it was as captain of the South African cricket team
South African cricket team
The South African national cricket team represent South Africa in international cricket. They are administrated by Cricket South Africa.South Africa is a full member of the International Cricket Council, also known as ICC, with Test and One Day International, or ODI, status...
, which makes him one of the fourteen players to have played Test cricket for more than one country. Mitchell's first-class cricket career was then at a hiatus, until he returned to captain South Africa in a disastrous campaign in the 1912 Triangular Tournament
1912 Triangular Tournament
The 1912 Triangular Tournament was a Test cricket competition played between Australia, England and South Africa, the only Test-playing nations at the time....
in England.
Mitchell later returned to England, playing first-class cricket only once more, for the Marylebone Cricket Club
Marylebone Cricket Club
Marylebone Cricket Club is a cricket club in London founded in 1787. Its influence and longevity now witness it as a private members' club dedicated to the development of cricket. It owns, and is based at, Lord's Cricket Ground in St John's Wood, London NW8. MCC was formerly the governing body of...
against Cambridge University in 1914
1914 English cricket season
The 1914 English cricket season was called off at the end of August because of the outbreak of the First World War. The last four matches to be played all finished on 2 September and the remaining five scheduled fixtures were cancelled....
.
In the First World War he returned to active duty, rose to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel and was mentioned in despatches.
Other sports
At Cambridge he also won blues at rugbyRugby football
Rugby football is a style of football named after Rugby School in the United Kingdom. It is seen most prominently in two current sports, rugby league and rugby union.-History:...
and at putting the weight. He was also captained at rugby. Mitchell went on to play for Blackheath and won six caps for England
England national rugby union team
The England national rugby union team represents England in rugby union. They compete in the annual Six Nations Championship with France, Ireland, Scotland, Italy, and Wales. They have won this championship on 26 occasions, 12 times winning the Grand Slam, making them the most successful team in...
at rugby between 1895
1895 Home Nations Championship
The 1895 Home Nations Championship was the thirteenth series of the rugby union Home Nations Championship. Six matches were played between 5 January and 16 March...
and 1896
1896 Home Nations Championship
The 1896 Home Nations Championship was the fourteenth series of the rugby union Home Nations Championship. Six matches were played between 4 January and 14 March. It was contested by England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales.-Table:-Results:...
as a forward in what was recognized as a very strong pack. He also kept goal for Sussex at soccer.
Mitchell also wrote about rugby. For example, he contributed a chapter entitled Forward Play to a book by Bertram Fletcher Robinson
Bertram Fletcher Robinson
Bertram Fletcher Robinson was an English sportsman, journalist, author and Liberal Unionist Party campaigner. Between 1893 and 1907, he wrote nearly 300 published items including a series of short stories that feature a detective called Addington Peace. However, Robinson is perhaps best remembered...
, Rugby Football (London: The Isthmian Library, 1896), recently republished in facsimile form.