Lives in Cricket No 48 - Maurice Leyland

but you would never hear him say, ‘I should be in the side instead of so and so’ and I don’t think he even thought it.” The previous winter there had been no England tour, so Maurice had enjoyed a rare spell at home with Connie and her family. Geoff had especially appreciated this extended contact with his uncle as they occasionally took off together to watch Leeds United or perhaps visit the theatre. Cricket was, for once, another world away and, having not played for England since the innings defeat in the Ashes decider at Melbourne the previous February, Test cricket was never given a second thought. He obviously prepared in the usual way for the 1938 season and was as committed as ever when the Yorkshire season got under way against the MCC at Lord’s on April 30. It took eight days to record his first century of the season, 100 versus Oxford University at The Parks, and in the first Championship game he hit 114 in a four wicket win over Essex at Ilford. He couldn’t have wished for a better start but on July 16, having been tipped for an England recall, for the fourth Test at Headingley, he broke his thumb on the first day of Yorkshire’s game against Middlesex at Lord’s and had to declare himself unfit for selection. That night he rang home and, not for the first time in his career, forewarned his young nephew not to be too upset when he read of his absence from the Test line-up. Injuries had forced Maurice to miss out on Test match selection before. But, while he had made the most of one particular London trip by visiting the most famous physio in the land, Tom Whittaker, even the great Arsenal ‘healer’ could do little to repair the damage to the injured thumb in time for the Test the following Saturday. By the time he was fit to resume playing, against Northamptonshire at Scarborough on July 27, England had already failed to regain the Ashes as a result of a five wicket defeat in the Headingley Test and all that was left to salvage was the rubber. After throwing away a two match lead to lose the Ashes in Australia in the winter of 1936-37, England had managed to take their winless sequence against the old enemy to six games; but if one man could change all that it was surely Maurice. His record against the Aussies in the decade since his Melbourne debut A very happy return 11