Lives in Cricket No 48 - Maurice Leyland

The extent of that contact varied from one to another but on September 26, 1937, it was only Maurice’s intervention that saved the life of his cousin Lilian. Unlike her cricketing sister Edith, Lil was a small timid young woman and, having had some unpleasant experiences during a sickly childhood, had a dislike of hospitals. When, after her marriage to Wilf Baren, she found herself expecting twins she insisted on giving birth at her home in Harrogate. There were grave complications. Only one of the baby boys survived the birth and Lil, having bled profusely, was left needing a life-saving transfusion. Maurice proved to be the closest family member and willingly offered himself as a blood donor. The story had a happy ending for Lil who survived and, having actually outlived Maurice and her sisters by some time, died in 1999. Lil was to thank her cousin for his help in a fitting way for she and Wilf named their only child after him and Maurice Baren, a horticulurist and part time writer, has carved a name for himself as the author of the How it all Began book series. Though a keen cricket follower, and immensely proud of his Leyland heritage, Mr Baren insists that he has never sought to emulate his sporting relatives. Another cousin to make his mark outside the world of sport was Mum’s the word 55 ‘Dad holding up the garden gate’ as Maurice’s mother Mercy put it in the family album