A Game Sustained

105 Struggling through to the end: 1918 of an early resumption in first-class cricket, the prospect of this happening remained small. Hawke mentioned a possible scheme of one-day county matches on Saturdays but emphasised the difficulties to be overcome with travel problems and a lack of players. He said that those who advocated matches were not recommending anything like a wartime Championship, but rather a competition divided into geographical groups. In February 1918, ‘Old Ebor’ confirmed that some form of competition had been discussed by the first-class counties since November 1917, possibly involving a minimum of six home and six away county matches on Saturdays, holidays and other Feast days. Advocates saw such games as responding to the sight, in large cities and towns, of thousands of people walking about aimlessly on Saturday afternoons and holidays. Whatever the good intentions, however, the proposals were still not practicable. Around the same time, Hawke and Jackson both spoke at the annual meeting of the London Cricket Club Conference. Lord Hawke elaborated on the influence of the game on the national welfare, and said he hoped that all elementary and secondary schools would play games. Jackson added that it would be to the national benefit if employers would consider the recreation and health of their staff as, he suggested, many firms in Leeds already did. He advised that he had told the government that the reconstruction of business could not be complete unless those sports which had done so much for the reputation of the country were revived after the war. The benefits of sport were also discussed in the context of the new Education Bill, and reconstruction more generally, when in May 1918, J.J.Booth was appointed as chairman of a federation of societies for young people’s welfare for Bradford, formed by the Home Office through local education authorities. The Yorkshire county club was also thinking ahead. In January 1918, Lord Hawke reported that George Hirst had received an invitation through him to apply for the post of coach at Uppingham School. Given the possibility of Hirst being needed to coach young Yorkshire players, the club