Maurice Leyland

Maurice Leyland (20 July 1900 – 1 January 1967) was an English international cricketer who played 41 Test matches between 1928 and 1938.

Leyland was born on 20 July 1900 in Bilton, an area of Harrogate, to Mercy (née Lambert) and Edward (Ted) Leyland.

He was registered at birth as Morris Leyland but his name was usually spelt "Maurice".

His father was a stonemason and a well-respected professional cricketer for Moorside in Lancashire.

Leyland senior also acted as Moorside's groundsman, and in later years continued that role at Harrogate, Headingley Cricket Ground and Edgbaston.

Leyland junior joined his father in the Moorside team in 1912, and by the age of fourteen had graduated to the Lancashire League.

After army service in the First World War, he became a professional cricketer for Harrogate between 1918 and 1920.

From there he made appearances for the Yorkshire Council, and Yorkshire's second team, for whom he bowled regularly; when he reached the first team, he bowled infrequently in his first seasons.

Around this time, he also played football for Harrogate.

In first-class cricket, he represented Yorkshire County Cricket Club between 1920 and 1946, scoring over 1,000 runs in 17 consecutive seasons.

After playing locally, he made his Yorkshire debut in 1920, and appeared intermittently in the following two seasons.

During the early 1920s, the Yorkshire committee was attempting to find players to replace those whose careers had ended with the First World War.

Late in the 1920 season, Leyland made his first-class debut for Yorkshire, having played several times in the second team that summer.

He played once, against Essex, scoring ten runs in his only innings, but this was his sole appearance that year.

He had never previously attended a County Championship game.

The following year, Leyland played in five first-team matches, scoring 52 not out against Leicestershire, averaging just over 19 for the season.

In the latter part of the 1922 season he played more regularly, replacing Norman Kilner in the team.

Although Leyland's batting figures were unimpressive, the summary of Yorkshire's season in Wisden Cricketers' Almanack said he "gave signs of promise as a forcing batsman and fielded very finely".

His highest score in 14 matches was 29, but he was awarded his county cap, and critics within Yorkshire judged him to have great potential.

Although not statistically successful, he impressed judges at the club, and was a regular member of the team from 1923.

Leyland played regularly in the 1923 season and reached 1,000 runs in first-class cricket, a total he exceeded in each of the seventeen seasons between 1923 and the outbreak of war in 1939.

In 1923, he scored seven fifties and averaged 27.89; Wisden suggested that he would become a leading left-handed batsman and that "his future seems assured".

In his history of Yorkshire County Cricket Club, Anthony Woodhouse states that Leyland gained valuable experience as part of a successful batting side.

He steadily improved over the following seasons to reach the fringes of the England team and made his Test debut in 1928 against the West Indies.

That winter, he toured Australia – a controversial decision as he replaced the famous batsman Frank Woolley – and scored a century in his only Test of the series.

A left-handed middle-order batsman and occasional left-arm spinner, Leyland was a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1929.

Born in Harrogate, Leyland came from a cricketing family.

He remained in the side until 1930, but a loss of form in the next two seasons called his place into question.

He recovered by scoring 1,000 runs in August 1932 to secure his inclusion in the team to tour Australia in 1932–33.

During that series, Leyland scored runs several times under pressure and by the time Australia toured England in 1934, he was a leading batsman in the team.

He held his place until 1938 when he was replaced in the team by younger batsmen for the series against Australia.

Recalled for the final match, he scored 187, his highest Test score in what became his last match.

After military service in the Second World War, Leyland returned to the Yorkshire team for one season before announcing his retirement from regular first-class cricket.

He maintained his connection with Yorkshire, and served as the county coach between 1950 and 1963.

He died in 1967.

Although he was neither aesthetically nor technically among the best batsmen, Leyland had a reputation for batting well under pressure.

He performed most effectively against the best teams and bowlers, and in difficult situations; his Test batting record is better than his first-class figures, and against Australia his average is even higher.

Outside of Tests, he had some success with the ball, and had it not been for the depth of spin bowling in Yorkshire, he might have been a leading bowler.

He was one of the first to bowl left-arm wrist-spin, and may have invented the name to describe such deliveries: "chinamen".

Very popular with team-mates and spectators, Leyland had a reputation as a humorist, and many stories were told about him.