Lives in Cricket No 20 - Maurice Tompkin

batting to collapse and hopes dashed. Jeremy Barlow, for many years the curator of the Grace Road museum, remembers going to the cricket that day, hoping for a victory but fearing and almost expecting defeat. Leicestershire’s batting mocked such a lack of confidence, and Maurice and Charles Palmer batted carefully, but barely below a run a minute. The following day, the partnership continued until the game was won. By lunch, Maurice had scored 105. Freddie Brown, Northamptonshire’s captain, grew increasingly desperate and tried seven bowlers, but none had any success. By the end of the innings, the partnership was worth 212, the only disappointment being that Palmer did not quite reach his century, being unbeaten on 96. Also more poignantly, it was the last time he shared in a double-century partnership; it has though remained the county’s record third-wicket pairing against Northamptonshire. The win brought Leicestershire to fifth in the table, 22 points behind Middlesex who were standing first, and with a game in hand over them. The second half of the Bank Holiday week brought Yorkshire to play at Grace Road. There was no Test match, so Yorkshire’s internationals were playing, except for Len Hutton, who was resting. There was very great interest in the match. This was certainly due to Leicestershire’s success, particularly their remarkable revival in the previous game, but also due to the appearance of Yorkshire. As they were having their worst season ever – they finished the season in twelfth position – there must have been a real sense that this was Leicestershire’s year and for once, they would win. The weather, mercifully in this quite damp summer, was set fair, and over 5,000 people turned up on the first day to watch Fred Trueman and Bill Foord open the bowling. Yorkshire for once needed to take Leicestershire seriously and they had secured the release of Trueman from the Royal Air Force for the game. The match was full of rivalries. Opening the bowling for Leicestershire was Terry Spencer. Terry had played in the Test Trial at Edgbaston in May when he had taken four wickets, more than any other bowler – Trueman had failed to take any – but had not played for England, and indeed would never do so. Fred Trueman had been capped by England in the previous season, and this certainly rankled, not just with Terry, but with his loyal supporters in Leicester. Maurice would also have seen in Frank Lowson and Willie Watson contemporaries who had scored far fewer first-class runs, but both were England cricketers. In dull conditions, Maurice Hallam got the innings off to a rapid start, hitting Trueman for seven 4s in his 50 which took only 55 minutes. Maurice Tompkin played a more restrained innings, batting 165 minutes for 68, though this included a six off Wardle. Yorkshire achieved a first-innings lead and then declared, leaving a one-innings match on the final day. The wicket was starting to produce clouds of dust, and Wardle was in his element. Leicestershire did not lose sight of the fact that they would be bowling last, and anything Wardle could do, Jackson and Walsh could do nearly as well. Years of Plenty, 1950 to 1953 86