Jack Mason

John Richard Mason (26 March 1874 – 15 October 1958), known as Jack Mason, was an English first-class cricketer with amateur status who played county cricket for Kent between 1893 and 1914, captaining the team between 1898 and 1902. He played for England in five Test matches on A. E. Stoddart's 1897–98 tour of Australia.

Over six feet tall, Mason was a right-handed batsman and right-arm fast-medium pace bowler, classified as a genuine all-rounder. Wisden Cricketers' Almanack considered him to be "one of the finest amateur all-rounders to play for Kent". Mason was chosen as one of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Year in 1898.

Early life Mason was born in Blackheath, then part of the county of Kent, one of seven brothers and three sisters. His father, Richard, had played for Worcestershire before the county gained first-class status, and worked as a solicitor. His mother, Ann, was the daughter of John Eagleton.

Mason attended Abbey School in Beckenham before going on to Winchester College, where he became a prolific batsman, averaging 48 and 55 in his final two years at the school. He scored 147 and 71, and took eight wickets, in one match against Eton College in 1892. He was described by Wisden in 1898, the year he was named as one of its Wisden Cricketers of the Year, as "beyond all question the finest batsman turned out in our time by Winchester College". Despite a lacklustre second season, he became a stalwart performer and gave "splendid all-round service". Mason took over the Kent captaincy in 1898 from Frank Marchant, a position he held for five seasons until his career as a solicitor took precedence, although he captained the team on the field during the final month of the 1909 season when Kent won the County Championship.

After the 1902 season, Mason's father told him he was no longer prepared to pay for his son's cricket career, and that it was time he joined the family firm. Mason played less often thereafter, but was still offered the captaincy of the English team to tour South Africa in 1905–06. He declined, and Pelham Warner captained the team.

1897–98 tour of Australia Mason toured Australia in 1897–98 as part of the England cricket team's tour. He played in all five Test matches, his only appearances for the England team. Mason performed well at the start of the tour but endured "a long spell of bad luck" and did not live up to expectations. He averaged 12.90 batting and took two wickets in the Test matches, although he scored a century in a first-class match against Victoria in Melbourne, and averaged 39.33 with the bat in first-class matches on the tour. Mason's letters written during the tour later formed the basis of Test of Time, a book about the tour written by Mason's grandson John Lazenby.

Kent from 1903 to 1914 Mason played in the four Kent County Championship winning teams of the years leading up to the First World War, and played his final game for Kent in 1914. As of April 2016, this remains the fifth highest partnership in Kent's history for any wicket. Mason scored three successive centuries in 1904 against Yorkshire, Somerset, and Essex. He appeared in eleven matches for the Gentlemen against the Players.

Style of play

With a height of over six feet, Mason generally played forward when batting, driving cleanly and powerfully. His Wisden obituary describes his batting style as "so straight a bat that he was always worth watching". He was equally at home on slow, turning wickets and he averaged 33.27 in first-class cricket. Mason was also an accomplished fast-medium paced bowler and was considered an excellent slip fielder.

Military service Despite being over the age for compulsory military service at the start of World War I, Mason volunteered in 1917 for service in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve (RNVR). He was commissioned as a sub-lieutenant in the Hydrophone Service and posted first to HMS Tarlair, the service's main research and training base at Aberdour in Fife. He was posted to one of the Hydrophone shore stations at Freshwater on the Isle of Wight and was, in 1918, promoted to Lieutenant. He volunteered to serve in the newly-formed Royal Air Force in April 1918, but was considered too important to be spared by the Hydrophone Service, which was playing a crucial role in combatting German U-boat attacks. He was demobilised in January 1919.

Later life Mason's career was as a solicitor, working at Mason and Co. in High Holborn in London. Like many amateur cricketers of the time, the time required for his profession reduced his playing time but he remained involved with Kent cricket until he moved away from the county in 1939. He was a member of the county's General Committee from 1919 and served as the club's president in 1938. He played for and was involved in the Band of Brothers club, closely associated with Kent's county team. Mason died at his home in Cooden Beach, Sussex in 1958, aged 84.