A Game Sustained

125 had also been made by Jewish groups, for whom it was not their Sabbath. In Sheffield, a wartime match had been well attended on a Sunday when a battalion had orders to leave for the front. Sunday sport had also taken place in the army, but the paper argued that in peace time it was the only day when ‘the ordinary man’ could rest. Some were far more positive. P.F.Warner, for example, advocated Sunday games, believing it would make for ‘a merrie England, and as a result, socialism and Bolshvism would gradually die out.’ Others agreed, but for now decision-makers stood their ground against Sunday sport nationally and at local level. Once the season opened, two-day county cricket came in for immediate criticism. In June 1919, the Yorkshire Post asked, in an article on ‘The Mistake of the Two-Day Match’, whether it was too late to alter the plans. It said the great blunder was obvious to everyone who had followed cricket since the start of the season. The paper complained that the stronger sides and better wickets were always more likely to generate draws, yet under the percentage rule which determined the county table for 1919, every such result reduced the value of a victory. Little money was saved except on players’ luncheons and gatemen’s wages. On the other hand, the feared inconvenience caused to players and spectators of a 7.30pm finish was real and crowds tended to melt away after 6.30pm as people went home for their evening meal. Reviving club cricket As prominent figures in the national game argued in favour of change or the status quo , at local level in Yorkshire thousands of people made efforts to revive the club game in a spirit of hope, pride, optimism and jingoistic relief. At the annual meeting of the Barnsley Cricket and Athletic Club in December 1918, the Mayor of Barnsley said that he greatly admired cricketers for their patriotic attitude during the war, adding ‘Sport was a thing the Germans did not know and never appreciated.’ He urged the club to get hold of the best young players and engage professionals to develop the available talent. A few weeks later, York Cricket Getting cricket back on its feet: winter 1918/19