Dimming of the Day

note advising that the remaining fixture of the Horsham Cricket Club had been cancelled owing to the war. The town ground was still being used, however. On 20 August Horsham YMCA (a well-known local side) beat the Wasps, while as late as 29 August the Junior Conservatives played Roffey CC (both well-known local sides), a match in which H.V.Dodd brought his record for the season to 100 wickets for 391 runs. The YMCA also played away matches at the local villages of Slinfold on 13 August, followed by Capel a week later – both matches were won. Just outside the town of Horsham is the village of Warnham which housed two paternal cricketing powerhouses. The Lucas family lived at Warnham Court and the Harben family at the other end of the village in Warnham Lodge. The 5 September edition of the West Sussex County Times told of a match played on Saturday 29 August in which ‘There was some interesting cricket at Warnham Lodge…. The village winning before the loss of a single wicket, thanks chiefly to the brilliant batting of C.E.Lucas, who compiled no fewer than 226 before he was stumped.’ This was Charles Lucas (Eton and Cambridge) who had played five first-class games for Sussex between 1905 and 1908. The Sussex and future England wicketkeeper, George Street, then 24, was among those playing for Warnham. And that was it: no further mention of cricket at all. Feelings about playing sport while at war were evidently running high locally as well as nationally, for in the 12 September edition ‘A local footballer’ wrote to the West Sussex County Times saying, Football is the working man’s sport, so if you propose to stop football, why not stop golf, tennis and other games? They are just as bad or quite as good as football ….. and I think there are others in Horsham who share the same views as myself. The Sussex Agricultural Express for 20 August refers to the cancellation of the rest of the season in the Lewes and District League. The Royal Garrison Artillery at Newhaven had been mobilised and Newhaven (town) had been unable to raise a team either. The same newspaper (unsurprisingly) comments on the harvest. There was not (yet) a problem with labour, workers not having yet volunteered, though there might be difficulty with laid crops because of the July rains. It argued against the ploughing up of grasslands (but does not suggest a problem with horses). The edition of 13 August referred to many matches being abandoned because of ‘unfavourable weather and the unrest caused by the European War’. This issue did refer to the horse question. Sussex farmers ‘have patriotically submitted to the commandeering of their horses for the war’ but it was a problem with the harvest to be got in. The government had agreed that where horses were used for agriculture or food distribution, not more than 50% would be taken. Recreational Cricket 110