Lives in Cricket No 48 - Maurice Leyland

145 Many happy returns One winter session I had a particularly bad time flashing away without connecting. Arthur was at the other end glaring at me then half-way through he just turned his back on me, making it perfectly clear he wasn’t going to bother any more. When I finished he just ignored me. I thought that was it for me and Yorkshire. But, as I was kneeling down taking my pads off, a figure appeared behind me and I felt a hand on my shoulder. It was Maurice. He bent down and quietly said, ‘My net next week Bryan.” The following week I turned up and Maurice met me and walked me down to the bottom of the net as I prepared to bat. ‘You know why you’re with me don’t you,’ he said. I certainly did. ‘This shot,’ he said inquiringly, ‘do you really think it’s worth playing?’ I said, ‘Yes, I do,’ and Maurice just went: ‘Right.’ And that was it. He wasn’t as technical as Arthur, who was super fella when you got to know him, but he concentrated more on just guiding you and helping you develop your natural ability. He could be severe when necessary but Maurice was generally full of humour and even though he could keep a straight face he had this twinkle in his eyes that immediately let you know when he was having a bit of fun. But, for all the praise lavished onMaurice fromthose playerswho went on to make their mark in either first class or league cricket he wasn’t everyone’s cup of tea as a coach. Former Yorkshire and England skipper, and team manager, Ray Illingworth always had reservations about Maurice’s style. “He was a great player and a very, very nice man but, I have to say, I much preferred ‘Ticker’,” said Illingworth. “Ticker was blunt but as far as I was concerned he was usually right. Whereas, Maurice never really seemed to make any valid points - he only made general remarks about your game.” However, ‘Dickie’ Bird appeared to sum up the situation best when, in My Autobiography , he described his first visit to the Yorkshire nets. “I was in the nets 15 minutes and never laid bat on ball, “ he recalled: All I did was keep sticking the stumps back in and replacing the