Lives in Cricket No 20 - Maurice Tompkin

My conversations with people who remember him recall a gentleman who had time for everyone, even those who offered him advice on how to bat from less-than-expert knowledge at 75 yards distance. His one opportunity to play international cricket was the ill-fated MCC ‘A’ tour to Pakistan in 1955/56, when he was dogged by pain, increasing loss of form and homesickness. Six months later, aged 37, he died, only days after batting in his best style in a festival match at Torquay, when it looked as though his form was recovering. His family, friends and Leicestershire cricket for the next generation and more were therefore deprived of a mentor and role model. The task of writing 40,000 words (or so) on Maurice is challenging. What follows therefore includes some excursions into some cricketing byways. The aim is to paint a picture of English cricket between 1930 and 1956 in the context of a man living in a South Leicestershire village. It is in many ways a sad story replicated by so many of his generation, a talented sportsman who has six years of crucial development time taken from him, who was very close on at least one occasion to playing at the very highest level. Then just when he appeared to be entering a golden autumn of a career, it ended with an unhappy tour and a final season of pain and disastrous form. Throughout, he smiled, retained his good humour, sipped on a pint of cold milk and drew on his ‘Senior Service’ cigarette. Countesthorpe, Leicestershire July, 2011 6