A Game Sustained

150 A wonderful relief: 1919 who could then be supported in ensuring players carried out their agreements. At the end of the season, it was also reported that the Bradford Cricket League had decided to move away from the ‘ultra-professionalism’ by which it had made its name. From 1920, clubs were recommended to play no more than five professionals, although this divided opinion. Some considered that the financial effect would be ‘little short of drastic’ for some clubs and would be unpopular with spectators if it meant inferior cricket. Later, the League Committee resolved that each club first eleven must regularly field no fewer than six amateurs who lived locally. An amendment that the old rules stand was defeated by nine votes to five, and the resolution to limit professionalism was carried. Perhaps surprisingly in view of his past position, J.J.Booth said he did not think it would be possible to have the ‘so-called ‘stars’’ available in the coming years, and argued that if clubs would not make places available for young players, they would have to be forced to do so in the wider interests of the game. Despite this, in September 1919, the League decided in fact not to change the present arrangements, and a resolution was defeated by 12 votes to five. There was much discussion about what amateurism actually meant, and it was clear that the issue was not going to go away. Despite the tensions in the game as it found its feet again, cricketers celebrated the return of the game with enthusiasm. Significant efforts were made by clubs to welcome back discharged soldiers and to mark the sacrifices of those who had not returned. At Huggate near Driffield, for example, the Cricket Club gave a ‘royal welcome to the lads’ back from the war, and 50 to 60 people shared supper in the schoolroom where music and games were played. The scene was repeated in numerous villages and towns around the county. There was also revived interest in cricket in the Hull area and the local paper considered the current side was possibly the best that had ever represented the city. In the north of the county, Middlesbrough (which had changed its name from North Ormesby at the start of the season)