A Game Sustained

134 7: A wonderful relief: 1919 ‘Bright cricket, indeed! There is brightness every night of the week in this glorious opening of summer for the thousands of boys and young men who are playing scratch matches or just practising with bat and ball; they want nothing better than the old rules and a good two or three hours before supper.’ Yorkshire Evening Post editorial, 22 May 1919 ‘ Peace entails that the great Yorkshire sporting traditions of the past be handed on.’ Lord Hawke, December 1919 The 1919 seasonwas both amarvellous release for cricketers, but also one of strain, disatisfaction and dispute. However much those involved wanted to look to the future, there were constant reminders of the recent past, the lost friends and relatives, and all the terrible destruction that more than four years of fighting had wrought. At the same time, for many it was a matter of making the best of things, and one sign of attempts to return to normality were the pre-season trials for Yorkshire County Cricket Club in the spring. A total of 29 new players attended, of whom 16 had promising batting credentials, nine were bowlers, and four considered useful at both. The news that George Hirst had received an offer of an appointment from Eton College led to Yorkshire deciding quickly to retain him as coach for the year. Initially, there was gloom at Headingley when it was reported that Yorkshire appeared to have a serious shortage of young bowlers. The anxiety was short-lived, however, as the trials ran their course and some promising players were spotted, but preparations for the season were then disrupted by Sir Archibald White’s announcement that he could not captain Yorkshire because of continuing military responsibilities. As a result, D.C.F Burton was invited to take over as captain, and it was under his leadership on 26 May 1919 that Wilfred Rhodes and Percy Holmes – the old hand and the batsman with all to prove – faced the opening overs of the club’s