Lives in Cricket No 20 - Maurice Tompkin

Maurice then made his way north to Manchester, where he had been asked to be twelfth man for the last three days of the Third Test against South Africa. The local newspapers, not for the last time, wrote more into this than was strictly justified. They attributed his selection to the fact that Tom Graveney had replaced the injured Denis Compton in the England eleven, and that he was effectively next in line for call-up should an extra batsman be required. The truth was more prosaic. In those days, the England twelfth man for the second half of the match was generally a fine fielder, who was also quite close to Test selection, but playing for a county that did not have a match. Those fulfilling these duties during this series were Don Kenyon, Fred Ridgway, Neville Rogers and Tom Graveney. When he arrived, the weather had prevented play on the Friday, and he saw Tom Graveney bat well in difficult conditions. England won the match by nine wickets, thanks mainly to fine bowling by Alec Bedser. Maurice stayed in Manchester, for Leicestershire’s next scheduled match was against Lancashire, but the weather was so bad that only one innings was possible, before the journey to Cardiff and Glamorgan. The game against Glamorgan saw him reach his 1,000 runs for the season, but still not the elusive century. The team selected to play South Africa in the Fourth Test, at Headingley on 26 to 31 July, included for the first time Peter May and Frank Lowson; it also saw the return of Denis Compton, with Tom Graveney relegated to twelfth man. In hindsight, it would seem that Maurice’s opportunity had gone. If, though, he stood any chance of going to India with MCC, Leicestershire’s match with Surrey, which coincided with the Test, was his last opportunity to make an impression. It was a perfect wicket, and Surrey had achieved a first-innings lead of 114. There was not much Leicestershire could do in their second innings except bat for a lead and save the game. Maurice put on 236 with Charles Palmer for the third wicket, reported by Wisden as the county’s ‘highest stand since the war’. Maurice went on to make his highest first-class innings so far, 175 not out in five hours, but they never had a lead large enough to warrant a declaration and a Surrey run-chase. The critical would say that it was not made in testing conditions, particularly in its final stages: Alec Bedser was absent, but Laker and Lock were on hand. By 14 August, Leicestershire were bottom of the championship with just two wins, and Maurice experiencing his worst run of the season. Happily this changed. Against Surrey, Vic Jackson won the match with a century and nine wickets, and in the penultimate match of the season Leicestershire beat Kent with Maurice scoring two fifties. Leicestershire’s comfortable run-chase was delayed by rain for 45 minutes and got off to a dramatic start. Fred Ridgway’s fourth ball hit Les Berry who fell onto his stumps and was thus dismissed for a duck in his penultimate first-class innings; with his next ball he hit Maurice in the chest, play being held up for several minutes while he recovered. This did no more than stiffen Maurice’s resolve, and the showery conditions demanded haste. Seventy Years of Plenty, 1950 to 1953 75