A Game Sustained

123 desirable pre-war ways. Views on what state the game had been in back in 1914 were mixed. Some were sure it had been losing its appeal. Albert Knight, the former Leicestershire player and author in 1906 of ‘The Complete Cricketer’, wrote that ‘before the war there was a general feeling that first-class cricket no longer appealed to popular taste.’ He said the game needed brightening up, adding that ‘Popular taste is very capricious. It has now many more outlets and opportunities offered to it than was the case even ten years ago.’ In addition, the public had the right to expect good accommodation on county grounds, strict time-keeping and for the game to be played at a convenient time. Jack Hobbs agreed, writing in an article that the war had changed people’s appetites and, as a result, cricket ‘must pander to public opinion’ and ‘tickle the public appetite’. He argued there was no need for stunts or alterations to the rules, but the present code should be interpreted in the proper spirit, which meant ‘keenness’ all of the time. Sides must go out to win and not just avoid being beaten. Batsmen must be more enterprising without resorting to slogging. Amused by all the talk about brightening the game, the humorous magazine Punch suggested that perhaps a bowler should be compelled to do ‘three Jazz-steps and two Fox-trots’ before delivering the ball. Traditionalists also had their say and were far from convinced about the need for alterations to tried and tested ways. Lord Hawke was not alone in thinking the talk of two- day county cricket was folly in view of the public’s desire to see a result and the inevitable loss of revenue it would mean, especially in wet weather. Players would also not get a satisfactory lunch and – perhaps most importantly from Hawke’s perspective – he questioned which amateur was going to want to play and arrive at his hotel for dinner at 8.30pm or 9pm. Despite the opposition of Surrey and Yorkshire, the authorities decided that the 1919 Championship should consist of two-day matches with a decision to be made under one-day rules if weather intervened. Play would go Getting cricket back on its feet: winter 1918/19