Lives in Cricket No 20 - Maurice Tompkin

thing. Whenever he is privileged to keep company with Geary, he must not allow the excellence of his batting to deceive him. He would never, I hope, admit it, but he is not as fast between the wickets as he used to be. On the final day, Leicestershire left Glamorgan four hours to score 273 for victory but the game petered out into a draw. His first match at Aylestone Road, against Gloucestershire, was disappointing. Though the county achieved their third win of the season, batting at five in the first innings and at four in the second, he scored few runs. On Sunday, 12 June, he got an early insight into what being a county professional was all about, as he turned out in a Les Berry benefit match. He played for the Leicester Nomads against W.E.Astill’s XI and, replying to 179, he scored 29 out of the Nomads total of 103. The Dog and Gun ground was full, with over a thousand supporters attending, who raised 20 guineas for the fund. He got the chance to catch up with his old team-mates from Leicester Nomads and their supporters, basking in the glory of his success. In his next county match, replying to a Hampshire first-innings score of 342, he put on 88 with Norman Armstrong for the fourth wicket, and then when Armstrong was out, he took matters into his own hands and completed his fifty in 80 minutes whilst batting with George Geary. Before 1938, Geary had only scored five centuries before this season, his last in 1934, and he now completed his third century inside a month. The interest created by his batting made some spectators desperate to secure admission at all costs, or rather without cost. Geoffrey Webb was forced to announce over the loudspeaker: ‘Will the three gentlemen who have got over the fence and are now sitting near the sight screen kindly call at the gate and deposit their shillings?’ After hitting five fours in an innings lasting just two hours, Maurice was bowled by Lloyd Budd for 70. The Leicester Evening Mail reported: ‘Tompkin batted remarkably well again, and it is to be hoped that he will be allowed to maintain his naturally aggressive style. Coaches endeavouring to make them into textbook batsmen spoil so many youngsters, that I do hope that similar steps will not be taken with Tompkin.’ The reporter also pointed out that he had one blemish on his display. He missed a ‘sitter’ off Hill at a critical point whilst fielding at deep mid off. This, and other fielding errors – George Dawkes seemed to have had a bad afternoon behind the stumps – meant that, though leading by over two hundred on first innings, Hampshire were able to bat out time. His batting was reaching a wider audience; the News of the World of 19 June featured him in its ‘Young Players to Watch’ series. The Hampshire match, however, represented his personal high spot of the season, with two fifties in five innings and an average of 40. He was not to pass 50 again in a first-class match for over a year. The players now had a full week off from playing first-team cricket. Maurice, however, was still officially a member of the Nursery staff, so he Leicestershire debut, 1938 and 1939 24