Lives in Cricket No 48 - Maurice Leyland

Maurice’s passport for the 1936-37 tour. Profession: ‘Professional cricketer’. Height: five feet eight. Colour of eyes: grey, colour of hair: dark brown 105 runs with Barnett (69) despite giving one chance to McCormick, off Frank Ward, and another to the slips off McCormick before tea, and he survived a third in the final session with his score on 71. Neville Cardus, in his book of the tour, described Maurice’s reaction to the ‘escapes’ as being ‘quiet and not stressed satisfaction’ and, typically, the longer his innings went on the more freedom he found in his stroke play. So much so, in fact, he scored 68 out of 90 for the sixth wicket with Hardstaff before finally being bowled by Ward five minutes from the close of the first day’s play. England went on to win that game by 322 runs after bowling Australia out for just 58, in 12.3 overs, in their second innings and in the Second Test, at Sydney, they won by an innings and