Melville Ryan was an English professional cricketer who played for Yorkshire County Cricket Club from 1954 to 1965.
21 Facts About Mel Ryan
1.
2.
Mel Ryan was born in Huddersfield, and died in the Kirkland Hospice at Dalton in Huddersfield.
3.
Mel Ryan was generally an outfielder and completed 59 catches.
4.
Mel Ryan joined Yorkshire as a player in 1954, aged 21, and went on to play for them in 150 first-class matches until 1965.
5.
Mel Ryan played for the Yorkshire Second XI, the Minor Counties and the International Cavaliers.
6.
Mel Ryan played in five first team matches and six Second XI matches in 1955, taking sixteen first-class wickets.
7.
Mel Ryan was a member of the Second XI team which won the Minor Counties Championship in 1957 and 1958, playing in ten and nine matches respectively, including the two Championship Challenge matches.
8.
Mel Ryan made only occasional appearances for Yorkshire's first team until 1961 when he became a regular choice, usually opening the bowling with Fred Trueman.
9.
Yorkshire enjoyed considerable success during Mel Ryan's career, winning four County Championship titles between 1959 and 1963.
10.
Mel Ryan was not a first team regular in 1959 when Ronnie Burnet led Yorkshire to their first title since 1949.
11.
Mel Ryan played in five matches and took 21 wickets in 1959.
12.
Mel Ryan was more involved under Vic Wilson's captaincy in 1960 and 1962, taking 37 and 73 wickets respectively.
13.
Platt said Mel Ryan did not bowl bouncers as he relied on accurate line and length.
14.
Mel Ryan told Wisden that he loved sharing the bowling with Trueman but he would have been much more successful and taken many more wickets "if Fred hadn't been at the other end".
15.
Mel Ryan is second in this list with 126, behind Tony Nicholson with 188.
16.
Towards the end of his career, Mel Ryan played in three Gillette Cup matches, taking five wickets at 29.80, and scoring seven runs for once out.
17.
Trueman was not playing in this match and Mel Ryan shared the pace bowling with John Waring and Tony Nicholson, who became Mel Ryan's successor in the Yorkshire team.
18.
When his cricket career ended, Mel Ryan formed a partnership with his brother Granville and nephew John Mel Ryan to run the chain of shops.
19.
Mel Ryan became terminally ill in 2015 and his last days were spent at the Kirkwood Hospice in Dalton, Huddersfield.
20.
Mel Ryan died, aged 82, on 16 November 2015 and was survived by his wife June, his daughter and three grandchildren.
21.
Mel Ryan's Yorkshire team-mate Ken Taylor, from Huddersfield, paid tribute to him, saying that Ryan was a "straight-talking, kindly and generous man".