A Game Sustained

156 8: Renewed joy: 1920 ‘The game...relieved the depression of war sacrifice; it gave a renewed joy to the lives left...of all outdoor sports and recreations cricket since the war has been the greatest uplifter of the national morale.’ A.W.Pullin, History of Yorkshire County Cricket 1903 – 1923 p147 ‘It was cricket everywhere – on the hill side and in the valley...all-round happiness reigned supreme.’ Star Green’un, 15 May 1920 Many people never recovered from their experiences in the First World War, and the physical and mental damage and trauma stayed with millions. One historian has labelled the inter-war period ‘The Morbid Age’, and written of the melancholy and sense of impending decline of civilisation that filled the thoughts of many after the conflict. 106 Some saw this as reflected in the style of cricket played. The Yorkshire journalist, J.M.Kilburn, suggested that not until the late 1930s: did cricket completely eliminate the bruises of the first [war] and for almost a generation a Festival atmosphere was apparently necessary for the cricketers of the time to...discover something of the joyousness that had departed from their day-to-day engagements. 107 The Harrogate-born writer, A.A.Thomson, also noticed a difference in mood, considering in his biography of Hirst and Rhodes that post-war Roses matches were ‘as between a dashing cavalry engagement and trench warfare’ compared to those played prior to 1914. In his opinion, ‘Dourness, at any rate as a major policy, did not appear on either side till after the war.’ 108 Building up local cricket - winter 1919/20 Despite such reflections, in general there was an air of optimism and hope after the first, rather hastily arranged,