A Game Sustained

43 Keeping going: 1914-1915 had concluded that his extensive family responsibilitiesmade it difficult for him to leave them. 38 There is some uncertainty about how Hobbs then spent his time or how demanding was the munitions work that he undertook in London. He also secured permission to coach cricket at Westminster School and then, in May 1915, accepted an invitation from Idle at £5 a match, plus £2 travelling expenses. 39 Hobbs said Saturdays were half-days in the munitions factory and he was allowed to take certain ones off so he could travel to Bradford to play league games, before returning home the same evening. 40 His first game was affected by rain but the Bradford League now had two players regarded by many as the best in the world. Hobbs’ presence had an immediate effect and his appearance in the Laisterdyke-Idle match drew a crowd of 4,000 (which included Major Booth, Arthur Dolphin and the Surrey player Ernest Hayes) with gate receipts over £43, while Barnes took six for 33 for Saltaire, watched by a crowd which paid £38. Throughout the summer, a number of the top players – appearing for local sides as allocated by the county club in the case of Hirst, Rhodes, Drake and Haigh, or as paid professionals for men from outside the county – performed impressively. In June 1915, Hirst assisted Otley and in just five hours of cricket a total of 500 runs were scored. Hirst also made 122 against Horsforth Hall Park while Wilfred Rhodes scored 93 not out for Chickenley. On the 3 July, Rhodes took eight for 14 for Birstall against Ossett, but ended up on the losing side, and Drake took six for 32 for Batley against Cleckheaton. Around 6,000 spectators were at Idle versus Saltaire, paying £51 to see Barnes and Hobbs, despite unfavourable weather. The match was unashamedly sold as between Saltaire (‘with...the Greatest of International Bowlers’) and Idle (with...the ‘World’s Greatest Batsman’). Such advertising helped raise average gate receipts at Idle from£8 before Hobbs’ arrival to £30 afterwards, even though ultimately the great batsman was not as successful in 1915 as expected. Whether it was the travelling or his efforts to please the crowds with aggressive batting, as he claimed, or whether in fact the standard of bowling was more than