Lives in Cricket No 20 - Maurice Tompkin

found it possible. Ultimately they allowed him to play for another week, but the game at Hove ending on 12 August was his last for the season. Not releasing him for longer may seem harsh, as he was not in the City first team, but he was playing regularly in the various practice and reserve matches, so ‘nipping off’ to play cricket may have been considered a distraction. Before he departed for football, he was offered an engagement for the following cricket season, though at that stage the terms were not decided. Maurice could never have expected to maintain his dazzling start without a few setbacks; perhaps his two-hour 40 against Yorkshire, including Bowes and Verity, sums up his development. The News Chronicle Cricket Annual , recording him as a ‘local youth’, approved of his numerical achievements, over 600 runs, including his 91 at Ashby-de-la-Zouch, and Wisden reported him as ‘a stylish, upstanding batsman’. Laurie Thursting, another young batsman finding his way, scored more runs at a higher average, though The Cricketer thought that Maurice was the better stroke player. He was, though, more than just a dashing stroke maker but someone capable of playing a responsible innings against bowlers of international standing. His early fielding lapses seem quite untypical, but they were a feature of the side as a whole. In September, the promised talent money was distributed; Haydon Smith and George Geary received £9; Berry, Watson and Armstrong were awarded £6; the three younger players (George Dawkes, Laurie Thursting and Maurice) £4.50; Flamson and Prentice £4, Sperry and Lester £3.50 and Ewart Astill just £1. In October, the club discussed salaries for 1939. It was decided that Maurice would be offered a ‘Junior Staff’ contract, amounting to £3 a week for the twenty-week season, and £5 a match. This would, if accepted, give him an income of £195 if he played in all the first-team games, plus of course the all-important talent money. The club had three categories of player: Senior Staff, who were paid for twelve months of the year; Junior Staff, employed for the twenty-week cricket season; and Nursery Staff, who were employed ‘on trial’ for the twenty-week season. Maurice did not accept his offer immediately, and in February, this was revised upwards to be the same as Laurie Thursting, with £3.50 ‘staff pay’ for the 20-week season, and his match fee reduced to £4.75. It was also made clear to him that he could not expect payment for the period when he might not be available and in the employ of Leicester City F.C. The impact of the changes was that his predicted income was now £198.25. This too, proved unacceptable, and on 2 March, the committee offered him match pay of £5, moving his income up to £205. In doing so they pointed out he would be earning £30 a year more than in 1938, and these ‘were the best terms the committee could offer’. Finance was incredibly important to the club. They had been within a meeting of going bankrupt in 1937, and Geoffrey Webb was doing everything he could to keep his budget of £3,000 for players under control. Leicestershire debut, 1938 and 1939 29