The Max and Molly Mynah Story

Max and Molly Mynah, were born in South East Asia and brought to England when they were just little chicks where they lived in a pet shop in Headingley.

Pete, the pet shop owner, was a fanatical cricket fan and every morning he would read the cricket papers to Molly and Max and then line their cage with the articles. Max and Molly would gaze at their heroes and both dreamt that one day they too would be good enough to play for Yorkshire.

One day a local boy called Roger bought Max and Molly. He too was hooked on cricket and came from a Yorkshire mining family. Roger's father, a local minor, wanted some little yellow canaries to keep him company in the mines and to test whether there was any dangerous gas at the coal face (canaries are very sensitive to dangerous gas!). As there were no little canaries left, Roger thought it would be a good idea to buy Max and Molly instead so they could help his dad in the mines and also play cricket with him. Being a bright lad he thought Molly and Max, being talkative and intelligent Mynah birds, could do an equally good job warning the miners of gases.

Max and Molly did a great job and made lots of friends very quickly at the mines. They would go to work with Roger's father and when they got home they practised their cricket with Roger. They loved it so much they soon practiced their batting and bowling with twigs and little lumps of coal at work and entertained all their miner friends at lunch time.

One particularly hot summers day, Roger decided to treat Molly and Max to a special day out at Headingley Carnegie Cricket Ground. They watched the most important fixture of the season, the ‘War of the Roses' match against arch-rivals Lancashire. Molly and Max were utterly enthralled by the game. They squawked loudly when Yorkshire hit a four or a six, and flapped their wings wildly whenever a Lancashire batsman lost his wicket! It was a fierce contest, but Yorkshire emerged victorious! Molly and Max were overcome with excitement and couldn't stop chirping about how they still wanted to play for Yorkshire more than anything else in the world!

It was then that Roger decided it would be unfair to take them back to his father and their life in the mines. They had such passion and enthusiasm for cricket that he felt the stadium should be their new home where they could brush up on their cricket skills and make friends with all the players. Plus he could still see them when he came to watch the games.

Max and Molly were overjoyed and thanked Roger so much for everything he'd done for them. Headingley Carnegie Cricket Ground became their new home and the coaches and staff made them the new mascots as they were so good at inspiring young people (like Roger) to play cricket and support The Yorkshire County Cricket Club.

Max and Molly love their new home and now they can't wait to meet you!