Jack Mendl

For him, nothing was straightforward. When he was, for example, teaching the Second World War to boys who had no conception what it was like, his classroom was transformed into an air-raid shelter with maps of the Allied troop movements, diagrams and pictures. For Mendl, teaching was an adventure - for both the students and the master. Jack Francis Mendl attended Repton College and then read History and English at University College, Oxford. Apart from cricket, he played football for the Centaurs and was a keen winter sportsman. He taught at the Dragon school, Oxford, before joining the staff at the Edinburgh Academy in 1950. His principal subjects were English and History and throughout the Fifties he was in charge of the 1st XI. He generously gave of his time and knowledge to improving the standard of cricket throughout the school. One potential opening bat can vividly recall encountering Mendl in the middle of February with the school covered in snow and being told to remember to "keep that left arm straight when you’re cover driving". All these school activities were carried out while Mendl himself was maintaining a place in the Grange XI and crossing the road to Raeburn Place to play for the Academicals. Between 1953 and 1955, Mendl was awarded five caps for Scotland. The most noteworthy was undoubtedly against Pakistan in ’54 on their first tour in Britain. That day he made a stylish and memorable 48. Mendl also made appearances for a variety of sides - Oxford Harlequins, Combined Minor Counties, Oxfordshire, etc - but made a particularly strong contribution to the MCC touring side that went to Canada in 1937. He was a dogged and resolute bat. He strode to the wicket, the multi-coloured Harlequin cap firmly set on his head, with a sense of intrepid determination. He had a crouching stance and watched the ball with an eagle eye. There was a definite aggression about his batting which was contrary to the man himself. Had he not had to wear spectacles at the crease, many consider he would have gained many more caps. At the Academy, Mendl taught the younger boys in his small classroom beside the gym. His charismatic and idiosyncratic way of speaking kept the attention of the class. But it was his ability to help the student in remembering everything from French irregular verbs to dates that many recall. (To this day, I confess, I can never think of the six wives of Henry VIII without a vision of Jack’s acronym of their names - CAJACC -in large letters on the blackboard.) Mendl was housemaster of Dundas House from 1962-65 and Mackenzie House from 1965-72. He gave untiring service to the Upper School for 15 years before, in 1965, transferring to the Junior School at Inverleith. He was always willing to help out colleagues and umpire junior cricket games or referee rugger matches. It was all done with great grace and charm. He retired in 1977, but remained in the Trinity area. It gave him time to concentrate on his golf, which he played with a very personalised zest. Mendl was for some years a member of Bruntsfield and kept in touch with many friends through the Ancient Academicals. He had a delightful habit when the slice was more perverse than usual or the vital putt failed to drop, of exploding into an array of colourful expletives in fluent Spanish. It certainly confused his opponents! Mendl had met Betty McClure who was also on the teaching staff at the Academy shortly after arriving in Edinburgh. They married in 1952. She and their son and daughter survive him.