Lives in Cricket No 48 - Maurice Leyland

Enter Sir William 76 seventh Baron Hawke in 1887, three years before William’s birth, when he was simply the Hon Martin Bladen Hawke. As the renewed search for a suitable amateur candidate for the captaincy began, following Sutcliffe’s decision, it was perhaps natural that Hawke’s gaze be turned in the direction of Hovingham. The new man did not manage to bring the Championship pennant back to Yorkshire, the side finishing fourth and runners-up respectively, but he did manage to make a useful contribution to the side as a player. As Wisden remarked at the end of his first campaign: “Captain Worsley proved a capable and popular leader of the team in succession to Major Lupton, and, when he has learned to restrain a propensity to hit out directly he arrives at the wicket, may prove a useful batsman.” It is not surprising that Sir William and Maurice, despite their vastly differing backgrounds, should develop such an admiration for each other. Sir Marcus Worsley and Mike Popplewell