Dimming of the Day

67 of five society ladies who had passed through the divorce courts the day before. On 25 July it was reported that the Buckingham Palace conference had broken down and that was the main concern of The Times . The failure of the conference was attributed by the Daily Express to the ‘radicals’ and the ‘hysterical spite’ of the radical press. Suddenly, though, events in the Balkans were seen to be threatening. Austria-Hungary leaves a small and excitable Balkan kingdom to decide at a few hours’ notice whether there is, or is not, to be a third Balkan War, and a Balkan war, this time, in which one of the great powers will be involved as a principal from the first, said The Times . ‘New European peril,’ said the Daily Express . The Russians were leaning increasingly to support Serbia and The Times believed that Germany wanted to localise any conflict to the Balkans. Middlesex had lost in two days and by an innings at Maidstone, Frank Woolley taking most of the second-innings wickets. Bowled out for 88 and 132, Middlesex did not look like potential champions, and the vagaries of the system now meant that Surrey were top. Derbyshire started badly at Northampton, losing six for 28 before struggling to 100. Sussex in their second innings at Southend managed 47 against Douglas and Tremlin, giving Essex their sixth win (in 1913 they had managed two). Remarkably enough, there were nine amateurs in the Essex team. At Lord’s the Royal Engineers played the Royal Artillery, (RE 68, RA 479 on day one). This match included the last known appearance of A.E.J. ‘Boy’ Collins, the man who at the age of 13 had made 628 not out in a junior house match at Clifton (still the highest known score in any form of cricket). Collins died at Ypres in November. Lancashire and Yorkshire were meeting at Hull, in what was described as an ‘extra match’ (the word friendly perhaps not being entirely appropriate). Lancashire had made 259 and Yorkshire were 312-6 with Wilfred Rhodes 95 not out. The Manchester Guardian was not satisfied, The Lancashire and Yorkshire match at Hull might, up to a certain point yesterday afternoon, be fairly described as the drowsiest game the counties have played in years. After the game it said that the first friendly, the previous year at Aigburth, was a ‘magnificent game’, but this year, The cricket was poor and lifeless, the spectators were few, the ground looked as if it wanted a thorough spring-cleaning, and when the rain mercifully put an end to it on Saturday probably no one, except the respective treasurers, was very sorry. That day’s cricket reports, however, were headed by ‘First defeat for Middlesex’. Somerset beat Worcestershire in two days at Stourbridge, with J.C.’Farmer’ July 1914