Lives in Cricket No 48 - Maurice Leyland

Enter Sir William 73 following year, settled at Hovingham where he ran the estate, farmed and, not surprisingly, enthusiastically supported the family’s cricketing tradition. Not only did he follow his father and uncle into the Hovingham side, the latter being Arthington Worsley (who played two games for MCC in 1888-90), he also kept scorecards, and made personal notes on games, in a binder marked ‘Cricket at Hovingham 1860-1960’. Sitting in front of the huge blazing log fuelled fire, in Hovingham study, time appeared suspended for a while. You had the feeling that there was much in our surroundings that Maurice, and the fascinating compilation of names gracing the pages of Sir William’s book now being so carefully turned by his son, now Sir Marcus, would have recognised instantly. Julius Caesar, of 19th century Surrey fame; Lord Hawke; Sir George Sitwell, eccentric father of Dame Edith; Sir Osbert and Sir Sacheverell and cousin of WHA Worsley; Sir Pelham Warner and EW ‘Jim’ Swanton, to name but a few, were among the early illustrious combatants. Apart from the various members of the Worsley household, Yorkshire players, in addition to Hawke, also regularly appeared in games at Hovingham and during his two year stint as county captain the last Sir William introduced Maurice to the games at the Hall. “Although I was too young to remember my father playing for Yorkshire my memories of Maurice are quite clear,” recalled Sir Marcus. The thing that immediately comes to mind is that he, more than anyone, posed the biggest threat to these study windows. Looking at the position of this room in relation to the wicket, the left hander was the one most likely to cause problems. I can’t actually remember him ever managing to hit the windows but he came pretty close on occasions. Maurice became a regular cricketing guest at Hovingham and as Sir William’s three sons, Marcus, John and Oliver, became involved in cricket they enjoyed the benefits of his advice. “He was a lovely chap, a real Yorkshireman,” attested Sir Marcus. “He was very friendly, a gentle sort of man and with a nice smile.