A Game Sustained

147 this was seen by some as too limiting. One report suggested that in time women would hope to develop so they could play weaker men’s teams. Although much of the discussion of women’s cricket in Yorkshire had a patronising tone (one piece in the Hull Daily Mail had said ‘woman as a cricketer is an unmitigated failure. She is not graceful; she grows hot and angry; her hair becomes tumbled; she stamps her little foot in rage at her inability to bowl somebody out or to accept a catch without accepting a black eye also’), exposure to the sport helped change minds. One writer commented: the matches I have seen during the last few weeks have opened my eyes...In fact I know a Council club which has seriously discussed the feasibility of playing some of its lady members in its first eleven, and it is quite a possibility that in the near future we shall see “mixed cricket” in some of our Council matches. 104 Thus, there were early signs of the growing interest in the women’s game that was seen in the inter-war period, but it is clear that there was some way to go before it would be taken seriously by men, even if wartime opportunities had helped to make cricket more accessible to a larger number of women. 105 Peace celebrations and strikes The Treaty of Versailles was signed on 28 June 1919 and 19 July was designated as Peace Day. Throughout Yorkshire, thousands gathered for celebrations, flags and bunting were displayed from public buildings and private homes, church services were held, and parties and other festivities were enjoyed in an outpouring of pride, patriotic joy and personal sadness. All forms of cricket – fun ad hoc games involving ex-soldiers and civilians or teams in fancy dress, as well as the planned league games – contributed to the day of celebrations, making the sport visible again to thousands in parks and on cricket grounds. In Sheffield, cricket carried on according to the fixture lists but in some cases early starts were arranged. The Heavy A wonderful relief: 1919