Lives in Cricket No 20 - Maurice Tompkin

Freddie Brown’s Northamptonshire were not the pushover of the pre- and early post-war years, and a very close match was contested over the Bank Holiday weekend. In front of a second-day crowd of 5,000, Leicestershire conceded a first-innings lead of just three runs. On the final day, nearly 4,000 people turned up eager to see if Leicestershire could win. An eighth-wicket partnership of 86 between Vince Broderick and Bob Clarke tipped the scales towards Northamptonshire, and Leicestershire needed 250 to win in 215 minutes. Gerry Lester and Les Berry put on 119 for the first wicket, and Maurice then came in to force the pace. He put on 46 in 22 minutes with Gerry for the second wicket, including three fours in a row off Freddie Brown. Ultimately, it was all just a bit too much, and Leicestershire lost by 22 runs, just nine minutes from time, with the last six wickets falling for 28 runs. This innings marked a significant point in Maurice’s career. After the war he had generally batted at four or even five in the batting order. The appointment of Charles Palmer as captain had meant that he generally had gone in No.5. From this game onwards until the end of his career, he went in at three, with Palmer retaining throughout his place at four. The ‘casualty’ was Frank Prentice, who until this point had been No.3, but was not a regular in the side from this time. This move up the batting order was the final stage in Maurice’s batting development from which he never looked back. Leicestershire dominated Derbyshire in the home match at the end of May. Jim Sperry and Jack Walsh bowled the visitors out for 209; Les Berry and Maurice nearly overhauled this themselves with a run-a-minute second-wicket partnership of 171. After batting in all for three and a half hours, he was finally caught behind by George Dawkes, his old friend from the Aylestone Road nursery, for 130. Chasing 223 in just over three hours, Leicestershire were tottering at 138 for six (effectively seven, as Jack Walsh would not bat), but a partnership between Vic Jackson and Charles Wooler saw them home. With two wins out of eight matches, and a first-innings lead against Surrey, this was the high point of the season, for the team did not win another match for two months. This also coincided with a ‘quiet’ spell for Maurice with no very large scores. The defeat by Cambridge should be seen in the context that the Cambridge innings was opened by Dewes, Sheppard, Doggart and May, all current or future England batsmen. The defeat by the West Indies was noteworthy for the West Indian innings of 682 for two, of which 651 were scored on the first day. A fine 74 by Maurice in the Leicestershire reply pales into insignificance when faced with such a gargantuan total. The third (and final) victory of the season was against Hampshire, and this was due to a very different Maurice Tompkin innings. The first day was dominated by a battle between Maurice, who scored a four-hour century, and Derek Shackleton, who in 36.1 overs took seven for 80. The Years of Plenty, 1950 to 1953 69