Lives in Cricket No 20 - Maurice Tompkin

following season against Australia. He was noted for having a particularly deadly off cutter, which as discussed later was perhaps the most likely delivery to defeat him early on in his innings. McCarthy had only a brief cricket career, attributable in part perhaps to his questionable bowling action. This came to a head when in 1952, whilst playing for Cambridge University, he was called for throwing by a new umpire on the first-class circuit, Maurice’s long-time county colleague, Paddy Corrall. England were looking out for an opener and at least one middle-order batsman – two if Compton became unfit. The Test selections in 1951 make interesting reading. Ikin (born 1918), who had never established his position in the England team since his debut in 1946, opened with Hutton. Watson (b 1920), went in at No.5, scored 50 in the First Test and held his place for the rest of the series. Later on in the series, younger batsman in Frank Lowson (b 1925) and Peter May (b 1929) made their debuts. Only once more would England select a player born before the 1920s to make his debut as a batsman, and that was C.H.Palmer, born May 1919, who played just one match on the tour that he was player-managing to the West Indies in 1954. The 1951 season was therefore the best and last realistic chance that Maurice had to play for England. On paper it is not easy to understand why Watson should have been preferred, unless it was because he played for a fashionable county and there was a belief that because he was an international footballer he would not be overawed by the occasion. In the opinion of M.J.K.Smith, Watson was much the ‘tighter’ player. If Maurice had a weakness, it was that he played across the line to deliveries pitched on middle and leg. This opinion is echoed by the great Test umpire, Frank Chester. In his opinion, Maurice had one fault that prevented him developing into a full England player; he played too much across the line of the ball, trying to force it to square leg instead of towards mid on. Presumably this in its turn was related to Maurice’s propensity to be dismissed lbw. Over his career he lost of his wicket lbw in 22 per cent of his dismissals, compared with figures for his Leicestershire contemporaries of Les Berry 17 per cent, Maurice Hallam 11 per cent, Gerry Lester 15 per cent, Charles Palmer 12 per cent and Frank Prentice 20 per cent. His position as a forceful batsman is perhaps made more tantalising by Freddie Brown’s article in the Wisden of 1954, entitled ‘Batsmen must be bold’. This, from his stance as chairman of the England selectors and captain of Northamptonshire: ‘I do not bowl my leg-breaks as fast as I did then (the 1930s) and yet only rarely do I place a man in the deep field. Maurice Tompkin and Harold Gimblett are about the only two batsmen who force me to do so.’ Maybe this proves the point, Freddie Brown’s stock delivery would turn away from the right hander, as would Johnny Wardle’s, another bowler who respected his batting greatly. This reinforces the view that he was a great straight driver, but why did Brown not select either player when he had the opportunity to do so for the 1950/51 tour of Australia? The article also speaks favourably of Tom Years of Plenty, 1950 to 1953 72