A Game Sustained

44 Keeping going: 1914-1915 a match for someone who had not had regular practice is hard to tell. In July 1915, the Priestley Cup also proved very popular in the Bradford area with aggregate gate receipts of £120 over the four matches, from crowds which included 4,000 at Great Horton versus Bowling Old Lane. Spectators were rewarded with some exceptional cricket, Old Lane making a record-breaking 455, with C.H.Grimshaw, the former Yorkshire batsman, scoring 230. The score was without parallel in the Bradford League and included 107 runs for the ninth wicket in 40 minutes. Great Horton then struggled, and as their last two batsmen were unable to get away from their government work the following Monday, they accepted defeat. By mid-summer, the local papers were thrilled by how interesting the leagues had become, while – sensitive to possible criticism - highlighting that every club had sent men to the front, and that the vast majority of the remaining players were engaged in making munitions. The approach of the first anniversary of the war and the growing realisation that an end was not in sight appeared to do little to stop cricket being taken seriously. A meeting of the Bradford Cricket League committee heard a Bradford representative complain that Idle had registered and then used a player without first obtaining his transfer from them. There was also a complaint about the behaviour of Laisterdyke spectators towards an umpire, who had to be escorted from the ground after something was thrown at him. Considerable controversy occurred when Bingley was disqualified from the Priestley Cup because its players were engaged in government work, which meant they could not replay a tie with Windhill on a Monday afternoon. This was described as a ‘monstrous’ decision, but the position of the League Committee was that it had to administer the rules whatever the circumstances. There was also controversy on the resumption of the final tie for the Wakefield and District Cup after the original contest had also been affected by the weather. When the match restarted as agreed on the Monday, Whitwood could put out only nine fielders since two