Lives in Cricket No 20 - Maurice Tompkin

Test players such as Reg Simpson and Peter May to Don Bennett and Jack Firth, for whom this was the peak of their representative career. Maybe the selectors were just happy to replace one of the great stars of the game with a good team man who would not let them down in the field and who might score an attractive half-century. Sadly, the outcome was much the same as 1951, with Maurice twice dismissed by the most threatening overseas bowler for small scores; this time it was Fazal Mahmood, who bowled him for just a single in the first innings and lbw for three in the second. The Mercury sadly reported that ‘he could not rise to the big occasion’. There were two more centuries and his thousand runs by the end of June, and he was the fourth batsman in the country to do so following Peter May, Don Kenyon and Vic Wilson, but then, apart from a trio of half-centuries in mid-July, just a run of low scores in the increasingly damp summer. The two centuries are worthy of mention. The first was at Huddersfield in mid-June and he was a significant contributor to a particularly gripping encounter. This game has been well documented elsewhere. Maurice was, of course, returning to the town that saw his last season of First Division football. His innings of 149 took him over four hours, but included sixes off Bob Appleyard and Brian Close. Johnny Wardle also remembered his Senior Professional 95 Final chance to make an impression? The MCC side which played Pakistan at Lord’s in May 1954. Standing (l to r): J.Firth (wk), D.Bennett, M.C.Cowdrey, D.B.Close, R.G.Marlar, R.Berry. Seated: M.Tompkin, R.T.Simpson, T.E.Bailey (capt), P.B.H.May, N.H.Rogers.