page_title: Maurice Leyland
section_title: Test debut and selection for Australian tour
hierarchical_section_title: Maurice Leyland / Test match cricketer / Test debut and selection for Australian tour
caption_attribution_description: English: Roy Kilner pictured in 1922.
context_page_description: Maurice Leyland was an English international cricketer who played 41 Test matches between 1928 and 1938. In first-class cricket, he represented Yorkshire between 1920 and 1946, scoring over 1,000 runs in 17 consecutive seasons. 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. After playing locally, he made his Yorkshire debut in 1920, and appeared intermittently in the following two seasons. Although not statistically successful, he impressed judges at the club, and was a regular member of the team from 1923. He steadily improved over the following seasons to reach the fringes of the England team and made his Test debut in 1928 against 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. 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.
context_section_description: Like Leyland, the Yorkshire bowler Roy Kilner coached in India during 1927–28. However, in doing so Kilner contracted a fever and died shortly after returning to England. With a weakened bowling attack, and affected by injuries and loss of form, Yorkshire pressed Leyland into service as an occasional bowler in the 1928 season. He had done little bowling for Yorkshire at this point; the team possessed two slow left-arm spinners in Kilner and Rhodes, leaving Leyland with little opportunity. Having never bowled 50 first-class overs in a previous season, nor taken more than four wickets, he bowled over 500 overs in 1928 and took 35 wickets at an average of 34.20. At this stage, the Yorkshire authorities thought that he might fully take on Kilner's bowling workload, or succeed Rhodes in the senior spinner's position.
  Leyland also had his most effective season with the bat. He scored 1,783 runs at an average of 54.03, and scored another double century. At the end of the season, Wisden commented: "[Leyland] can play both the games—the dogged defence when a bad position must be saved and a fine forcing game when it is necessary to make runs quickly. In the ordinary way his preference is for attack and he is a delightful batsman to watch."
  During June 1928, Leyland was selected for another Test trial, playing for "The Rest" against England; then in mid-July he played for the Players against the Gentlemen at Lord's Cricket Ground. At the end of July, the MCC named the team to tour Australia for the 1928–29 Ashes series. Leyland was included in the team; according to The Times, it would have been difficult to leave him out and his presence lifted the fielding ability of the side. His selection was controversial in the south of England, and particularly in Kent, as he took the place that the veteran Kent batsman Frank Woolley was expected to fill. One Kent supporter wrote that Leyland was a "cross bat village-greener". Pelham Warner, a selector at the time, claimed that Leyland's superior fielding influenced the decision, but the cricket writer Alan Gibson suggests that the real choice was between Woolley and Phil Mead, two batsmen of similar age. In 1928, the West Indies toured England, playing their first Test matches. The team did not perform well, but the England selectors picked strong teams to provide practice for the players. Leyland was selected for the last of the three Test matches. Making his debut on 11 August 1928, he was dismissed for 0 by Herman Griffith in his only innings.
  The MCC team which toured Australia was extremely strong in batting, and Leyland served as back-up to the main batsmen. The English batting line-up was settled for most of the series, leaving little opportunity for the reserves; although Mead played in the first Test, he was subsequently left out to strengthen the bowling. Playing in other first-class matches on the tour, Leyland scored centuries against South Australia and Queensland. With England 4–0 ahead in the series, Chapman stood down from the final Test; although it is not clear why he did so, one possibility is that he wished to give as many members of the team as possible a chance to appear in the Tests. Alternatively, he may have felt that his batting form did not warrant a place in the team. Whatever the reason, Leyland took his place. England lost the match, but Leyland was successful. He scored 137, his first Test century, and 53 not out. The report in Wisden said that he "distinguished himself by two really delightful displays ... His exhibition of powerful, well-timed driving past cover-point will long be remembered by those who saw it." Overall, in first-class matches on the tour, he scored 614 runs at 43.85, but his bowling was ineffective on the hard pitches. Following his success in the last Test, Leyland was expected to become one of the leading English batsmen, and before the 1929 season he was named one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year for his performances in the 1928 season.
caption: The death of Roy Kilner left the Yorkshire attack weakened and led to Leyland bowling more frequently.
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