A Game Sustained

177 reportedly kept him in suspense by suggesting that he was needed in his battalion cricket team, but he was quickly released and soon made up for lost time, becoming a capped Yorkshire regular within months. 124 For Percy Holmes, now aged 32, it was now or never, the chance to add to modest pre-war contributions. For Arthur Dolphin it was a return to his old place behind the stumps, while for others such as Abe Waddington, the war – tragically – opened up new opportunities, which he grasped in no uncertain terms in 1919. If these men were keen to provide entertainment, demand from those wanting to watch the game was also high. As Birley has commented, cricket after the war saw ‘the sort of boom that comes after an artificial restriction of supply, and as wartime conditions relaxed and the euphoric, escapist mood took hold, the enormously increased demand for entertainment benefited all sports.’ The Yorkshire public responded enthusiastically to the proper restoration of the game. First-class crowds were higher than before the war, helped in 1919 by the sheer relief of having the chance to watch county cricket in whatever form, and by the drama of the following summer’s title race. In 1919, 112,603 people paid to watch 14 Yorkshire county games compared to 99,519 to watch 15 in 1914. The number rose to 199,746 in 1920, and continued to grow into the 1920s. 125 A drive to increase the number of Yorkshire county members met with similar success. 126 Such enthusiasm was despite the continued burden of the Entertainment Tax, and the flawed and unpopular introduction of the two-day County Championship, and the arcane percentage points system used thereafter. People put up with the inconvenience of the former and confusion of the latter, and just watched cricket, often noisily and with less deference than in the past, especially for the Roses games. The concerns that some observers had expressed in wartime that once peace came people would not have the time or inclination to watch county cricket proved – initially at least – to be wrong. Thus, there was a great coincidence of interest between Concluding thoughts: Cricket, Yorkshire and the Great War