A Game Sustained

160 Renewed joy: 1920 Evening Post journalist asked to see a decent bat in a sports shop, and was told they had only six left, whereas before the war he would have had 400 to 500 in stock. This was explained by the fact that clubs which had gone to ‘wrack and ruin during the war’ were restocking. The increased cost of new equipment exacerbated the financial problems which had always been the norm for local cricket clubs. The same month, there were complaints among junior players in Sheffield about the doubling of fees to enter leagues, and the higher postage and printing bills which came with running a club. Umpires in the Halifax section of the Yorkshire Council also asked for their fees to be increased from 5s to 7s 6d a match. This was turned down, but they were allowed an additional 1s 6d for tea. The lack of good cricket pitches in parts of the county was another concern, not helped by the number of fields which had disappeared in the war. In Sheffield, one observer lamented that cricketers frequently played on ‘heart- breaking pitches’, although even ‘fifth rate’ surfaces were harder to find in 1920. In March, the annual meeting of the Bird Cricket League heard that the shortage of grounds was affecting the ability of many clubs to make arrangements for the coming season in the city. In York there was a different problem. The freemen of Bootham Ward were asked if they would lease a portion of Bootham Stray for football, cricket and other games. They refused on the grounds that it was more important that they provided milk and meat for citizens than space for recreation. In Leeds, on the other hand, the Corporation Parks Committee instructed the Parks Superintendent to implement a ‘Leeds Playing Fields Scheme’. The only problem was that the boys themselves had to do the work on the grounds since the council had no other labour available. Alongside the focus on renewal, considerable efforts continued around the county in 1920 to commemorate fallen friends. In April, the Vicar of Scarborough unveiled a memorial to members of the cricket club who had fallen in action, which was placed on the east wall facing the playing