A Game Sustained

96 Running out of steam: 1917 as an ‘artistic batsman with a fine off-drive’. Although his highest score was 161 against Kent in 1908, his first-class average was only 21, and Tony Woodhouse, in his ‘Who’s Who of Yorkshire County Cricket Club’, considered he lacked the necessary determination to become a top county cricketer. Having joined the Sportsman’s Battalion, Rothery was transferred to the East Kents and went to France in March 1917. During his time in the trenches, he came under fire and shrapnel hit his shoulder as he took shelter. He was then operated on in France and sent to hospital in Suffolk and then Heatherdene. 65 In Harrogate, wounded men played cricket on the Stray on the Bank Holiday in August. The local paper commented that it was ‘an inspiring sight to see the boys pursuing the sport. A bowler would hobble slowly up to the wicket and deliver a medium-paced ball while the batsman, no less incommoded, got in a swipe. The wicket keeper had a single pad with which he stopped occasional balls, and the fielders were as sprightly as could be expected. The spectators enjoyed it as much as the players.’ Other efforts were made to help wounded servicemen deal with their injuries. At the Beckett’s Park Military Hospital in Leeds, for example, a demonstration of mechanical artificial arms was given, involving a man without his left arm from the shoulder showing how with this assistance he could use a cricket bat vigorously. Greater efforts were made to entertain injured servicemen in Leeds. The rather cumbersomely named ‘Gambit Wounded Warriors Weekly Welcome and Entertainment Committee’ provided entertainment for wounded soldiers, including offering motor drives, teas and evening events. Over the winter of 1916-17 the committee made use of the Albert Hall (subsequently the Civic Theatre) and the Gambit Café in Leeds. Owing to petrol restrictions it became impossible to take men on motor trips, but the directors of Leeds Cricket, Athletic and Football club gave permission for use of the pavilion and parts of the Headingley ground. All residents of the military hospitals and convalescent homes in Leeds