Lives in Cricket No 48 - Maurice Leyland

Chapter one A very happy return Geoffrey Rimington, 15 years old and cricket mad, heard the evening paper drop through his letterbox at his grandma Russell’s house in College Road, Harrogate, and rushed to the door with an extra spring in his step. It was Monday, August 15, 1938 and this particular night the sports pages of the Yorkshire Evening Post were of extra special interest to the family - the England team for the final Test against Australia, at the Oval, had been announced and uncle Maurice was back in the side. It had long been his job to read the cricket reports to his grandma, originally to help him develop his reading skills, and Geoff, though already having heard the announcement on radio the previous day, took great pride in relating the following: ‘THE ENGLAND TEAM FOR FIFTH TEST ….. Four Yorkshiremen Chosen … INCLUSION OF LEYLAND ……’ It continued: “The England team for the fifth Test match with Australia commencing at the Oval on Saturday, August 20, will be selected from the following fourteen players: WR HAMMOND (Capt), Gloucestershire, K FARNES, Essex, LEYLAND, Yorkshire, VERITY, Yorkshire, BOWES, Yorkshire, HUTTON, Yorkshire, PAYNTER, Lancashire, AMES, Kent, FAGG, Kent, WRIGHT, Kent, COMPTON, Middlesex, EDRICH, Middlesex, GODDARD, Gloucestershire, HARDSTAFF, Nottinghamshire. The England selectors are evidently leaving little to chance, writes our cricket representative JM Kilburn. They have invited fourteen players to gather at the Oval next Saturday morning, 9