Lives in Cricket No 48 - Maurice Leyland

The Lancashire paceman, as prophesied by Prittie, then quickly accounted for Smailes, bowled for two, and Yorkshire went in for lunch precariously placed at 120 for five, Maurice having scored only three runs in 50 minutes. When Maurice and his skipper Sellers resumed their innings after lunch they still needed 96 to avoid an innings defeat and 155 minutes to survive. At this point the runs were as important as the minutes. If Yorkshire could pass the Lancashire total there would have to be an interval between innings and that would reduce the amount of time they had to force home the victory that had looked all but theirs since the first day of the match. As the clock ticked away the crowd became increasingly irritated by the stonewalling tactics of the White Rose men. The barracking increased. All around the ground clearly audible hostile exclamations, rising above the disgruntled buzz of the crowd, tested the patience of the Yorkshire batsmen. But, they did not bite. Sellers played the more forceful shots, opting for what he knew best, and Maurice, unperturbed, picked off what bad balls there were to keep the scoreboard moving when he had to. At 3.30pm that scoreboard read, 178 for five, Leyland 26, Sellers 30, and 38 were still needed to make Lancashire bat again. At 4pm, 19 were needed and Lancashire now had use of the new ball. Fallows juggled his bowlers, trying everything in his power to break the partnership, but it was all in vain. Sellers settled the issue when he levelled the scores with two fine boundaries, off successive overs from Phillipson and Pollard, and then, with just 15 minutes of the match remaining he brought up his half century with a four off Pollard to leave Yorkshire on 220 for five. Stumps were immediately drawn, as was the game, and Yorkshire were left to complete the formalities in lifting a fourth successive title, albeit with an enforced six year wartime break between the last two. Maurice was left unbeaten on 41 in the Yorkshire innings and the last word should really go to Prittie: Leyland was the real hero. He batted three hours when minutes were more valuable than gold sovereigns. He took some cruelly hard blows and never flinched or faltered for a moment. There is an appeal about Leyland’s batting that was lacking in his days of Signing off 130