Lives in Cricket No 20 - Maurice Tompkin

adequate, the pitch was not. Leicestershire were defeated by early on the final afternoon due to the dominance of the slow bowlers Jack Walsh and Johnnie Lawrence. Maurice’s second-innings 75 took three hours and Leicestershire were short of their target by 58 runs. Only Tony Riddington, with whom he added 40 at a run a minute, and Paddy Corrall, with whom he added 48, could stay with him for long. Sheila though was delighted, and sent him a telegram ‘Well batted darling’ that would have been waiting for him the following morning. Leicestershire now headed south to Oxford. It seems strange to relate that they picked pretty much their strongest available side for the fixture, with George Watson of the regular team the only omission. In fact it was a good ‘game of cricket’ with Oxford just 35 runs of their target with three wickets left when stumps were drawn. Leicestershire, with a first-innings lead of 35, found themselves at nought for two in their second innings. Frank Prentice and Maurice gradually turned things around with a partnership of 173, and finally at 5.15 pm a two off the Oxford off-break bowler, Michael Sutton, saw him to his maiden first-class century. Batting at the other end, appropriately enough, was fellow ex-Countesthorpe Board School pupil Tony Riddington. He took his score on to 135, with sixteen fours, allowing Berry to set a target of 320 in four hours. It was Maurice’s 74th innings in first-class cricket. Not until this innings had he exceeded his score in his first match. War and Peace, 1940 to 1949 50 The way we were. Sheila Tompkin’s brief telegram to Maurice after an innings of 75 against Somerset in June 1946, his first post-war half-century which broke a run of small scores.