Godfrey Bryan

Godfrey James Bryan CBE (29 December 1902 – 4 March 1991) was an English cricketer.^[1] A left-handed batsman and right-arm medium pace bowler, he played first-class cricket between 1920 and 1935.^[2] His brothers Jack and Ronnie also played for Kent,^[3] though Godfrey was considered the most talented of the three.^[4]

Biography

Early life

Born in Beckenham, Kent,^[2] Bryan showed an early talent for cricket when playing at school. After making a string of centuries whilst at school, he was referred to by Wisden Cricketers' Almanack as the public school batsman of the year^[4] and made his first-class debut for Kent in a County Championship match against Nottinghamshire^[5] aged just 17.^[2] He made an immediate impact by scoring 124 in the second innings of the match.^[4]

Main cricket career

He became a regular member of the Kent team during the 1921 season, playing nine County Championship match in addition to a match against Australia.^[5] His top score of the year was the 179 he scored against Hampshire.^[4] He played 13 County Championship matches for Kent the following year,^[5] after which his Army career meant that his availability for county cricket was limited. The Army cricket team had first-class status at that time however, meaning that he was able to keep in touch with first-class cricket,^[4] playing for the Army against the Royal Navy in 1923 in addition to four County Championship matches for Kent.^[5]

In 1924, he played in five County Championship matches for Kent, also playing first-class matches for the Army against Oxford University and the Royal Navy. He also played for the Combined Services that year,^[5] scoring 229 for them against South Africa,^[4] his highest first-class score.^[2] He played eight County Championship matches in 1925,^[5] including one against Lancashire in which all three Bryan brothers played.^[4] He also played three first-class matches for the Army, against Cambridge University, Oxford University and the Royal Navy.^[5]

His availability for Kent was even more curtailed in 1926, playing just one County Championship match against Middlesex that season, also playing for them against Australia and the MCC. He played a further three first-class matches for the Army, against the same opponents from the previous season. The following season, he played just once for Kent, against Somerset in the County Championship, and played four matches for the Army, against their usual opponents in addition to New Zealand.^[5]

He played just three first-class matches in 1928, two for Kent against Middlesex and the West Indies, and one for the Army against the Royal Navy. He played three County Championship matches in 1929,^[5] passing 3,000 runs in first-class cricket in the match against Sussex.^[6] He also played first-class matches for the Army against the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force that year.^[5]

Later cricket career

The first years of the 1930s saw a brief cessation in his cricket career in England as he was stationed in the Far East, where he played two matches for the Straits Settlements against the Federated Malay States in 1930 and 1932.^[7] Back in England, he played his final match for Kent in 1933 against Derbyshire, also playing that year for the Army against the West Indies.^[5]

He played a non first-class match for the Army against Australia in 1934,^[7] and played his final first-class match for the Army in 1935 against Cambridge University.^[5] He continued cricket at a lower level, playing a third match for the Straits Settlements against the Federated Malay States in 1938. He played for the Army against the Minor Counties in 1947, against Yorkshire in 1949 and against Oxford University in 1951.^[7]

References