Lives in Cricket No 20 - Maurice Tompkin

team quickly started coming to terms with matting wickets. Maurice had little difficulty playing strokes on them, and the team could start getting used to the regular round of official engagements. On 22 December, they attended a reception held by the Governor-General of Pakistan, Gen Iskander Mirza, and, on the following evening, another reception given by the British High Commissioner. Back in England, Sheila and the boys were preparing for a Christmas without Dad. The paper reported ‘record spending in Leicester shops’ but there was good news in that there were few shortages apart from canned salmon, which had completely sold out. People were anxious that they should obtain their favourite food though, and at 8 am, in an otherwise deserted street, between 50 and 100 people were reported as queuing for their Christmas pork pie, a commodity particularly dear to the heart (or rather stomach) of any Leicestershire resident. The florists were complaining at the poor sale of flowers; bunches of Cornish anemones were selling at 4s 9d (24p) a bunch, an ounce of Player’s Empire Navy Cut at 3s 11d (20p) and a bottle of port at £1. At the same time, a Grimsby trawler was lost at sea in a severe storm. Christmas Day was spent at the Sind Club in Karachi, and the arrival of Father Christmas at a children’s party brought memories of Sheila, the boys and his mother having Christmas at home without him. His sister-in-law, Pam, remembers howmuch he hated the tour: ‘He was a home bird who did not like being away from home.’ This is supported by his tour itinerary card. Each of the many engagements is crossed out in pen, as though he was pleased when each was over and he was a day nearer getting home. Some of the journeys in Pakistan, then still a poor country, slowly recovering (particularly in Punjab) from the effects of Partition, would make a modern team gasp. For example, the rail journey from Sialkot to Lyallpur (now Faisalabad), about 130 miles in a straight line, illustrates the problem. They left Sialkot, after play had finished for the day, at 7.04 pm on 15 February, arriving in Wazirabad at 8.42. After an hour’s wait, they caught the 9.50 pm to Lalamusa, arriving at 10.35 pm. They then waited on the station to catch the 3.45 am on 16 February, finally reaching Sargodha at 7.18 am. There then followed a sixty-mile road journey to Faisalabad, where fortunately they were not playing until the following day. To complicate matters further, after the sixth match, the team were flown 1,200 miles across India to East Pakistan, now Bangladesh, to play two first-class games before returning to Punjab to continue the tour of ‘mainland’ Pakistan. Some of these journeys were in planes fitted out for freight rather than for passengers. From a playing viewpoint, the tour started well. On matting against Karachi, he scored a half-century, sharing stands of fifty with both Peter Richardson and Ken Barrington. In the second innings, his brief knock demonstrated his concern to play in the best interests of the team. He In Pakistan, 1955/56 111