Lives in Cricket No 48 - Maurice Leyland

148 Chapter fourteen Against the odds Although the first signs of Parkinson’s disease began to manifest themselves soon after Maurice began his coaching role with Yorkshire it was never seen as a problem in the early years. His nephew, Geoff Rimington, suspected that it was affecting him long before he ever acknowledged it publicly but both Maurice and his wife Connie would dismiss suggestions that there was anything wrong. Former Yorkshire players have said that even when a tremor was noticeable it would seem to disappear as soon as he got a bat in his hand. Although Maurice would joke about his illness to anyone who asked about it he never made it an issue. It wasn’t kept secret but, at the same time, it was not widely publicised. In fact, after talking with a number of the old Yorkshire players it is clear that they gave it very little consideration at first but the problems did get progressively worse. Tony Clarkson, who played first class cricket for Yorkshire and Somerset before becoming a first-class umpire, knew Maurice all his life. His father, Joe, also a former Harrogate cricketer, had played football with Maurice at New Park and the two men were to remain firm friends all their lives. When still two months short of his 16th birthday Tony, a pupil at the Grammar School, made his first team debut for Harrogate in 1955 and he did not take long to impress. He made 91 against Barnsley the following April, in a five wicket defeat inspired by a century from the opposition opener Michael Parkinson, and he went on to hit seven centuries for Harrogate in eleven seasons. His total run tally of 4,211 puts him in the all time top ten batsmen for the club. Not surprisingly the Killinghal-born youngster was soon under the Headingley umbrella and it was Maurice who used to take him down to the nets in his early days. He recalled: I clearly remember going down to the New Inn to meet up with Maurice and seeing him drive up in his green ‘Coronation’