Lives in Cricket No 48 - Maurice Leyland

pavilion and an early tea was taken with England riding high on 242 for one; Hutton 111 and Leyland 104. At this point Neville Cardus, writing in the Manchester Guardian, remarked: “Leyland is always an England batsman; for the purposes of Test matches he should be regarded as in form whenever he is not suffering from a broken leg or splintered finger.” Play re-started at 4.45pm and the batsmen prepared to served up more of the same. However, while the first delivery after the break caused a brief stir, Maurice being ‘bowled’ off an O’Reilly no-ball for the second time in his innings, the two batsmen were quickly back in the groove. Kilburn, writing in the Yorkshire Evening Post ’s ‘Sports Final’ remarked: “Hutton, his stroke play flourishing, was late cutting like the master he is and Leyland in everything he did was sure and sturdy, and so the score continued to climb on this day of Yorkshire triumph.” But that was not strictly true. In fact, only minutes after Kilburn had filed that copy, Maurice, introducing a rare moment of uncertainty to the proceedings, was only saved from a run out when bowler Waite, in his haste to collect the ball knocked off a bail and broke the wicket before the return had reached him. He hadn’t the time, or presence of mind, to uproot the stump and effect the run out, in accordance with the laws, before Maurice scampered home. At the close of play the pair had taken the score on to 347 for one; but, contrary to Kilburn’s somewhat biased outlook as a Yorkshireman, not everyone was looking on this performance as the ‘triumph’ he was proclaiming so fervently. Cricket writer Denzil Batchelor wrote: Hutton was batting inexorably, patting his singles between mid-on and mid-wicket, or just out of reach of third man. You felt he had no interest in or lustings after such abominations as tend to make the glamour of the game, the swall-swift cover drive or the soaring hit over long on. …Then the game began its slow plod toward late afternoon when even Bradman’s squat shadow became elongated and Norman. The Australian tactics were now frankly despairing. A field was set to Fleetwood- The match 20