A Game Sustained

106 advised him not to apply and instead he was given the opportunity to secure the post of county coach, conditions to be considered later. The club also continued to provide support for its players. In the summer of 1918, Hirst, Denton, Rhodes and Drake received £1 10s a week for 17 weeks, again on the basis that they would play in matches as required and avoid doing anything which interfered with war work. 69 Keeping club cricket going As the debate on the future of the game went on, across the county considerable efforts went into maintaining club cricket for another wartime season. In early January 1918, at the annual meeting of the Yorkshire Cricket Council, the secretary reported the league had a deficit of £3 18s, but 44 clubs had maintained their membership even though the majority had not played during the year. Subsequently, the Council announced that 26 clubs would compete during the coming season in a three-section structure. In Sheffield, the Norton and District Cricket League reported that more than 30 clubs signed up to play in four divisions. In Bradford, an application was also received from the Bradford Central League for some of its clubs to be included in the Bradford League Second Teams’ Competition as it had too few sides to make a separate league feasible. Despite some past animosity between the organisations this idea went ahead. The League itself also continued to attract county players, even though some were not on a par with Hobbs and Barnes (who had taken 116 wickets at 5.52 in 1917 for Saltaire). Ernest Robson, the former Somerset bowler, who was now 47, joined Idle over the winter as player, groundsman and coach. Keighley again signed Schofield Haigh, to add to J.W.Hearne of Middlesex and Emmott Robinson of the Yorkshire Second XI, an all-rounder who would later play over 400 first-class matches despite not making his debut until the age of 35. Clubs in the Huddersfield and District League also decided to continue in 1918 but reduced from six to four the number of Struggling through to the end: 1918