Lives in Cricket No 48 - Maurice Leyland

118 Chapter eleven Field of dreams The 1939 cricket season was played out under the shadow of an impending war in Europe, and on September 3 the uncertainty was finally ended with the British Government’s declaration that we were, in fact, ‘at War with Germany’. The County Championship programme was not played to completion but by the time the cancellations began Yorkshire had already secured a third successive title and Maurice, though having had his 39th birthday mid-summer, showed little sign of losing his touch. Despite being overlooked by England for the South African tour the previous winter and for the visit of the West Indians he continued to steady a Yorkshire side regularly depleted by representative calls. A brilliant 112 against Gloucestershire, at Bradford, almost saved his side from one of only four defeats during the season, and an outstanding rearguard action, while wickets tumbled around him, took them to within 17 runs of victory against Worcestershire before being last out to a fine sprawling catch by Oxford Blue John Stanning at long off. But, his highest score of the season came at Lord’s when, in partnership with old England colleague Herbert Sutcliffe (175), helped Yorkshire to a match- winning 430 for five with a superb unbeaten 180. At the end of the season he had claimed 1,238, another thousand runs for the county and was one of six players to do so. Interestingly, he also had a hand in Norman Yardley’s 1,000 for the young England batsman had struggled early on in the season and it was only after a sustained spell in the nets with Maurice at Northampton, in July, resulting in a knock of 93, that his fortunes changes for the better. This same year Maurice spent a lot of time collaborating with Yorkshire Post cricket writer Jim Kilburn on a series of articles for the paper and it was clear from what he said that coaching was already in his thoughts. Unfortunately cricket, generally, was soon to be the last thing on anyone’s mind andwithmany of theYorkshire playersMaurice, as he had done 20 years earlier, joined the Army. He held the rank of sergeant for most of his war service, based in East Anglia or East