Lives in Cricket No 48 - Maurice Leyland

the season. After making only 18 and four in the Second Test against South Africa, England losing by 157 runs, he was laid low by lumbago and had to pull out of the Third Test on his home ground of Headingley on the morning of the match. This match was destined to end in a draw but there was, nevertheless, plenty for the Yorkshire fans to cheer. Although Maurice missed the game his absence opened the way for Arthur ‘Ticker’ Mitchell to step into the breach and he responded with a score of 58 in the first innings despite the worst possible preparation. Acar was sent to his house to take him to the ground, a ten-mile journey from his Baildon home, and he then found himself having to go out and bat before lunch with the England score on 78 for three. With another 72 in the second innings, his highest Test score, this was to prove a memorable match for ‘Ticker’ but then, ironically, he was forced to withdraw from the Fourth Test. Wilf Barber (24 and 14), Bill Bowes (two for 62 and two for 31) and Hedley Verity completed a quartet of Yorkshiremen at Headingley. Maurice returned to the side for the Fourth Test, at Old Trafford, and promptly completed another half century. Both that game and the final Test at the Oval were drawn, to leave England with another series defeat, but a brilliant 161, putting on 151 with Hammond for the fourth wicket and 179 for the fifth with Ames, ensured the series ended with his reputation restored. Yorkshire went on to win the Championship in convincing style and become the first Champion County to beat the Rest of England, with the help of a season’s best 133 not out from Maurice, since the county’s previous success in this fixture 30 years earlier. There was no winter tour for England that year but Yorkshire accepted an invitation from the Jamaican Cricket Board to visit the island in February and March and it was a chance to lay a few ghosts. The earlier Caribbean failures would not have been taken lightly and after seeing his side complete a five wicket win in the opening game against All-Jamaica, Maurice then helped put Yorkshire in an unassailable position in the two subsequent draws, with scores of 115 and 75, and so secured a series win for the county. Shortly before the Jamaican trip Maurice and Connie, enjoying Against the rest 110