A Game Sustained

26 Keeping going: 1914-1915 recruiting officer also enthused that those who signed up as ‘just the right type’ and ‘young athletic fellows of a fine stamp’. In Hull, a battalion was formed of members of the football, cricket and athletics clubs, after the formation of a commercial battalion. The idea of ‘Pals’ battalions was also suggested to encourage enlistment, offering men the chance to serve alongside friends, neighbours and colleagues, rather than be arbitrarily allocated to regiments. On 7 September, Major Booth and Roy Kilner registered their names for the Leeds ‘Pals’ Battalion, while an athletes’ Volunteer Force called on all cricketers and other sportsmen not already linked to an organisation for national defence to add to its ranks. A few days later, Lord Hawke wrote to the newspapers, stating that Yorkshire county club had been asked to help the formation of a Cricketers’ Corps. He acknowledged that many players had already joined up but invited ‘the many leagues and clubs to support this movement’ by sending names to the club. This initiative proved to be too late, however, and the following week Hawke reported that the idea had not gone as well as hoped because many cricketers had already joined other regiments. The plan was quietly abandoned as the reality of war now began to hit home hard. On 3 September, there were first reports of the death of a county cricketer, Captain C.G. Luther of the King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry. A member of the Yorkshire Gentlemen club, Luther had been proposed to the Yorkshire committee a few years earlier. However, he had been born outside the county and played instead for Sussex in 1908. The news of his death actually proved unfounded – he had only been wounded and then taken a prisoner of war – and in fact lived until 1961. Despite the serious developments on the Continent, many local competitions were played out to a conclusion. The Lumb Cup, for example, ran its course as did numerous leagues across the county. Bowling Old Lane won the Yorkshire Cricket Council, while a full round of fixtures was held in many parts of the county on 5 and 12 September.