Lives in Cricket No 20 - Maurice Tompkin

Aylestone Road, and there were two large refreshment marquees. The exclusive 100 Club also had a tent, though few members bothered to attend, as most were Leicester-based. Away in the distance peeping above the trees in their midsummer glory were the ruins of Ashby castle, once home of Lord Hastings, executed on the orders of King Richard III, after whose family the local club (Ashby Hastings) is named, and is probably the only cricket club in the country to have as its patron the Plantagenet claimant to the English throne. The ground was most famous for its lunches, which sorely tested the constraints of the luncheon interval, served in the Royal Hotel. Policing was provided gratis, though one suspects it would have needed more than a county cricket match to drive the locals to violence, provided the county secretary remembered to supply Superintendent Bullimore of the Ashby constabulary with complimentary tickets. Scorecards were updated twice a day and the printer would provide a ‘runner’ to bring them to the ground from his printing works close to the ground. Jim Sperry, the fast bowler on the verge of breaking into the first team, who lived just a few miles down the road at Thornton, was in charge of selling them in 1938. It would have made a pleasant outing for Jim, with the Ashby ground just a short bike ride from his home in Thornton. It gave him the chance to enjoy the sunshine rather than his winter employment as a miner. C.S.Dempster won the toss for Leicestershire on a dull day, with rain threatening, but there was ‘a nice ring of spectators’ at the start. The clock was striking twelve as Les Berry and Norman Armstrong came out to open the Leicestershire innings. The start was dramatic. John Clay had created quite a stir when selected to play for England against Australia. He had created even more of a stir when he had rejected the invitation: ‘I am forty years old, and I do not think that I could stand up to the strain.’ This was well demonstrated, for, in the second over of the innings, he strained a muscle in his side when bowling his first delivery that went for two runs. He had his second ball stopped and then pulled up when starting to bowl the third and went off the field. In the space of the next few minutes, Berry was caught and bowled, Armstrong run out attempting a third run, and Dempster twisted a knee attempting a single and had to be carried off the field sitting in rather precarious fashion on his bat. The score was now only 16, with two wickets down and the captain and best batsmen retiring hurt, when Maurice Tompkin came out to bat in his first innings for Leicestershire to join George Watson. He did not appear in any way disturbed by the occasion and batted confidently. He started by scoring a number of singles before off-driving Mercer for his first boundary, ‘a powerful shot, all along the ground,’ reported the Leicester Mercury . Watson batted confidently, pulling E.C.Jones for six and Emrys Davies for four. It was perhaps in an attempt to follow suit that Maurice jumped out to Emrys Davies, missed the ball and was stumped by Brierley for 15. The partnership was worth 60, and had lasted just an hour. Leicestershire debut, 1938 and 1939 22