George Bean

George Bean, died at Warsop of pneumonia on March 16. He was one of the many Notts cricketers who earned fame for a county other than that of his birth. His connection with the Notts XI was restricted to the season of 1885. He did not do much, and, declining the offer of half a dozen matches in the following year, he threw in his lot with Sussex for which county he had already qualified by residence. For Sussex he proved himself a most valuable batsman. Between 1886 and 1898 he took part in 219 Sussex matches and hit up ten hundreds. The Brighton wickets were at their best in his day and they suited his style of play to perfection. He had a most brilliant cut and--the boundary being short on the pavilion side--it is no exaggeration to say that he got numberless fours without running a yard. One of his performances stood out above all the rest. Playing against Notts at Brighton in 1891 he scored 145 not out and 92. In 1891 he touched his highest point. He headed the Sussex averages and stood for the moment in quite the front rank of professional batsmen. Strictly on his merits he was picked to go to Australia with Lord Sheffield's XI in the winter of 1891-92 but somehow he never found his form and the trip detracted from his reputation. Back in England he showed a sad decline in form for one season, but in 1893 he was as good as ever and again came out at the top of the Sussex averages. Attached to Lord's for many years he was at the time of his death the senior member of the MCC's groundstaff. He had his Sussex benefit in 1898 and a highly successful Whitsuntide benefit at Lord's in 1921.--S.H.P.
Wisden Cricketers' Almanack