John Munn

One of only three first-class cricketers produced by the dominion of Newfoundland, Jack Munn was a useful left-arm bowler and stylish bat who played first-class cricket for Oxford University in 1900 and 1901. As a bat he was equally strong on either side of the wicket, and he was a smart field, usually at mid-off.

Born in Harbour Grace, Newfoundland, he moved to St. John's after the death of his father, and his mother's re-marriage to a member of the prominent Bowring family. Educated in part in England at the Forest School (who many years later produced England captain Nasser Hussain), Munn went up to Oxford in 1899. Good performances in trial matches earned him a run in a powerful University XI (captained by RE Foster, and including Bosanquet), but despite several useful outings, including playing against an MCC side led by WG Grace, he failed to earn his blue against Cambridge. He returned to St. John's that summer, and played against a touring Bostonian team - in the first match he was not asked to bowl in the first innings and was lbw for a duck when St. John's batted! He took eight wickets in an innings in a later match in the series, a record for local cricket.

In 1900, the University was much weaker, and Munn's bowling was in demand throughout the season. He played against Cambridge at Lord's (his last first-class match) and was somewhat under-bowled by his captain. His 24 first-class wickets included some notable players - Tom Hayward, Bobby Abel, Sammy Woods (twice), Albert Trott, CB Fry, and KS Ranjitsinhji. As a twenty-one year old he had great potential, which was unrealised at the first-class level. Hed been at Oxford only two years, and might have been expected to feature in the team for at least another couple of years. However he returned to Newfoundland, and his later cricket was confined to the St. John's league, at that time in a period of what proved to be terminal decline.

He rose within his step-father's company, becoming a director of Bowring Brothers and prominent within the local business community. He died tragically in the shipwreck of the Florizel in 1918, whilst en-route to New York to visit his sick wife. The ship, owned by Bowring Brothers, steamed full-speed onto the rocks near Cape Race, and Munn and his three year-old daughter died before rescue boats could reach the wreck 24 hours later.
Dave Liverman