That’s the respected opinion of another Rochester and district cricketing great, John McMahon.
‘‘He was very competitive and never gave an inch,’’ McMahon, who played for the rival Rovers Cricket Club in the Rochester association but was a teammate of Mick in representative sides, recalled.
Mick and his brother Norm were both long-serving players of the Toolleen Cricket Club and members of the former Rochester and District Cricket Association representative sides that were almost unbeatable in the 1960s and early 1970s.
McMahon likened Mick to a bowler ‘‘in the Glenn McGrath mould,’’ who rarely strayed in line or length and always had batsmen under pressure.
‘‘He was always right on the spot with his bowling,” McMahon said.
“His brother (wicketkeeper) Norm kept to him up on the stumps and they combined to get a lot of wickets.
“I rated Norm and Jimmy Ogden (former Tongala cricketer) as the best country wicketkeepers in my time.”
McMahon said Mick was also a fine upper-order batsman at number three or four.
‘‘He wasn’t a big hitter but was technically correct who accumulated his runs,’’ he said.
McMahon said while Mick was highly competitive on the field he was a lot of fun off it and enjoyed a laugh and a good time after games.
One of the highlights of Mick’s cricketing career, which stretched from 1954 to 1981, was being a member, along with his brother Norm, of a Victorian country representative side that played the Victorian State XI at Cohuna.
He took a wicket and made 15 not out.
Mick made a hobby of keeping personal statistics — both for cricket and his days as a career shearer.
He represented the Rochester association 28 times at Bendigo Country Week and for 27 years at Melbourne Country Week with stints as captain at both carnivals.
In that golden period Rochester won seven titles at Bendigo in eight years between 1962 and 1969 and another two in the 1970s in 1971 and 1975.
Those amounted to nine titles in 13 years.
His 28 years at Bendigo Country Week involved 115 games in which he made a total of 2770 runs, including two centuries and 10 half-centuries, at an average of 28.86.
He also took 290 wickets at an average of 12.7 runs, with a best haul of 8/22.
His stellar performances at Bendigo earned him a place in its hall of fame.
As a shearer he removed the wool from over 440,000 sheep.
Mick, 84, had been living in Kyabram for the past 18 months and had been in good health up until a month ago.
He is the father of former Kyabram footballers Peter, Denis, Brendan and Francis Ryan, who all shared his love of cricket and football.
Another brother, Kevin, was another talented sportsman whose sporting career was cut short by a knee injury.
There are also two daughters, Jenny and Kathryn.
Mick’s funeral was held last Friday, November 13, at Heathcote where his late wife, Helen, is also interred at the local cemetery.
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