Cricket Witness No 5 - Whites on Green

60 A place for all seasons As Johnnie Clay, the Glamorgan captain, later remembered: “Maurice was not really looking the part. He was so nervous and did so badly that he suggested that it might be best after all if he did not play against Lancashire. Luckily for him and for Glamorgan, I took him to one side and was able to talk him out of standing down, telling him some nonsense about the actors who had told me that a bad dress rehearsal guaranteed a successful first night!” 2 Later in the day, Maurice and his father travelled by train to Swansea, primarily to allow the youngster to get a good night’s sleep in a hotel before his big day. As it happened, Maurice did not have the greatest of rests, but it was certainly more than the Lancashire team who arrived at St. Helen’s in a quite weary state on the morning of 13August, after having travelled by overnight train from Blackpool. Johnnie Clay was delighted to see the visitor’s many yawns as they knocked up on the morning of the match so after winning the toss, he had little hesitation in batting first, believing that their long journey would hamper the Lancashire attack. It proved not to be and when Maurice walked out to bat, the scoreboard was reading 24-4. But the fresh-faced youngster looked more like a seasoned professional with over a hundred appearances under his belt as he calmly played himself in and helped to rectify the situation. As Nomad wrote in the Western Mail : “from the moment he came in, he batted with the assurance, coolness and judgement of a veteran and in 35 minutes before lunch obtained Maurice Turnbull displaying his batting talents off the front foot.