A Game Sustained

6 diminished because circumstances had changed. There also appear to have been changes over time in perspectives about wartime sport. In his history of cricket during the Second World War, Eric Midwinter argued that it was considered more acceptable to play cricket in the second war than the first. In part, this was because in 1914 it was a century since there had been a threat to English soil; 25 years later the population was more used to the idea of a European war. He also suggests that by 1939 the game was not treated as solemnly as before and so playing did not seem ‘to be quite the blasphemy that it had in 1914.’ There was also a greater understanding of the importance of maintaining morale on the home front and of the value to the war effort of relaxation. And there was more of a sense of facing a common threat in the Second World War and less a feeling that those at home were avoiding danger and so should behave appropriately. 2 Whether playing cricket at home during wartime was acceptable is one of the two main themes of this book. The second theme is howthe gamewas sustained inYorkshire during the war despite the justifiable agonising among cricketers about whether they should play, and how cricket recovered once fighting stopped. The book examines what happened to cricket in the county in this period of turmoil, how it kept going with so many young men away and then how, when peace came, it resumed its place in national life. It describes how cricket fitted into the war effort and in what ways it was affected by the conflict. The focus is on the game at all levels because for much of this time first-class cricket did not take place, and some of the highest-calibre players appeared for local clubs alongside undertaking war work. The time period under examination deliberately extends beyond the war because it took two summers for many clubs and leagues to recover. There were different phases over the six years under review. In 1915 and 1916, many clubs and leagues tried to maintain some semblance of normality, but by 1917 and 1918 the strains increasingly began to show as conscription increased, fuel and raw material shortages Introduction