Lives in Cricket No 20 - Maurice Tompkin

He regarded his selection as ‘realising an ambition’, and he was not bothered about the number of matches to be played on matting wickets: ‘Batting on matting wickets is not new – I played on them in Southern India in my army days.’ Sheila Tompkin was more cautious, but dignified and supportive. Speaking for herself and the two boys, she said: ‘We are not looking forward to his being away for nearly four months, but we are very happy for Maurice’s sake. It means so very much to him.’ The reporter remarked that her enthusiasm for her husband’s cricket is only exceeded by that of her young sons, Chris and Nicky, and that Maurice would leave with abundant advice from the boys. The team departed on S.S. Circassia from Liverpool on 3 December. Launched in 1937, this 11,000 ton vessel had served as a troopship during the war, and now travelled the Glasgow to Bombay route. It was hardly therefore a luxury liner and chugged along at 15 or 16 knots: Geoffrey Howard remembered being passed by everything ‘except rowing boats’. They arrived at Port Said, at the northern end of the Suez Canal, on 12 December, where they were reported to be fit and in high spirits, and delighted to receive their first mail from home. They spent the morning sightseeing and buying souvenirs, before heading south through the Red Sea and across the Arabian Sea to Karachi. The stifling heat was in stark contrast to what was happening at home. On 18 December, Countesthorpe had 14 degrees of frost and was experiencing its coldest night and then first snow of the winter. They landed in Karachi on 21 December, and the In Pakistan, 1955/56 110 Sheila, Maurice and their boys, Chris (left) and Nick, pack Maurice’s kit for the photographer before he sets off on the MCC’s tour to Pakistan in December 1955.