He was a left-arm fast bowler with a great deal of spin and a dangerous yorker that was often believed to be unfair[1][2] – which may explain why he was not considered for the earliest Test Matches despite being in his prime.
He holds the Derbyshire record for most wickets in a single match, with figures of 17–103 against Hampshire at the Antelope Ground, Southampton in July 1876.
[3] This is one of only two times a player has taken seventeen wickets in a match and finished on the losing side – the other, by Walter Mead in 1895 was also against Hampshire.
Mycroft had no pretensions as a right-handed tail end batsman: he scored only 791 first-class runs at an average of 5.34 and prior to Alf Hall and Father Marriott remained the last significant cricketer who took more wickets than he scored runs.
As a result, Mycroft was selected for the North against the South, where he had the amazing figures of fourteen wickets for 38 runs.
At this time he found himself in an assembled team of cricketers in several Gentlemen vs. Players matches, Mycroft's fellow Players including past and future England Test representatives Arthur Shrewsbury, George Ulyett, John Selby, Tom Emmett, and Fred Morley.