Lives in Cricket No 48 - Maurice Leyland

Chapter six 1928, an unforgettable year As 1927 drew to a close Maurice, with Yorkshire team mates Arthur Dolphin and Roy Kilner, set sail for India to play and coach for His Highness The Maharajah Dhiraj Mohinder Bahadur of Patiala; also known as HH Bhuprendrasingh Rajindersingh. Although Maurice had enjoyed a useful season with the bat for Yorkshire in 1927, including a magnificent century against the New Zealand tourists, he had failed to make the England tour party for the Test series in South Africa that winter. So, this trip was a welcome break. It offered him the opportunity to get away from a cold wet Harrogate winter, enjoy a bit of sun, and earn a few more pounds to help him get his forthcoming marriage to Connie off on a sound financial footing. He had visited Patiala twice before, with Emmott Robinson and Abe Waddington in 1925-26 and then with Wilfred Rhodes and Arthur Dolphin the following year, and was looking forward to the trip immensely. Patiala is in North West India in the Punjab region and the Maharaja, a keen patron of the game, played a big part in the development of cricket in his country. A man of striking appearance, standing well over six feet and weighing 17 stone, his wealth was enormous. Among his 150 cars were 20 Rolls Royces and enough priceless jewellery not to worry about batting in a £4,000 pearl earring which, one day, he managed to lose then later find again where he had been sitting prior to batting. His private cricket ground was built much on the lines of a high class country club, with a palatial pavilion that doubled as a hotel for visiting players, and a pitch that was looked after by a number of native boys who cut it entirely by hand. Hunting was another popular past-time. The Maharaja kept over 300 sporting dogs, and the visiting Yorkshiremen would join in the fun on the expeditions laid on for them. On the first night of the 1926-27 trip Maurice, Rhodes and Dolphin slept in a guest room in the pavilion. It was to prove a nightmare. Distinctly unfamiliar, not to mention terrifying, animal noises ensured a fitful night’s sleep for Maurice and Dolphin - Rhodes insisted there was nothing to be scared of - as they anticipated 64