Dimming of the Day

80 August 1914 were ejected from the ground during a slow partnership between George Gunn and Joe Hardstaff. For this and all other matches only summarised scores were provided by The Times . Gloucestershire v Somerset at Bristol hurtled to a conclusion: Somerset 82 and 105, Gloucestershire 111 and 77-9. In this match (Gloucestershire’s only victory in 1914) the Somerset innings was opened by the twin brothers A.D.E.(Dudley) and A.E.S (Sydney) Rippon, typical Somerset amateurs who attended King’s College, Taunton and not gone to university. Neither was a cricketer of great distinction. Sydney’s son Geoffrey became a Tory MP. At Old Trafford Drake and Rhodes bowled Lancashire out for 83 and Yorkshire, needing 51 to win, were 5-0. Essex bowled Derbyshire out for 31 and 94 to win by an innings and 131: in the day Douglas took nine for 62, Tremlin ten for 52 including a first- innings hat trick. On 6 August The Times reported that the German invasion of Belgium had been repulsed at all points. The official announcement said, ‘We are completely victorious’. This was, as it happens, completely untrue. It was also reported that five German spies dressed as priests had been arrested at the Gare du Nord in Brussels. That might not have been true either. Today it was reported that Kitchener had indeed been appointed as Secretary of State for War. His post of Agent and Consul-General in Egypt would be kept open in case he was able to return to it shortly. Sussex beat Kent at Canterbury by 34 runs, G.R.Cox taking six for 45. ‘Old’ George Cox played for Sussex from 1895 to 1928, and his son, ‘Young George’, from 1931 to 1960. All other games were drawn as rain closed in, except that Northamptonshire beat Leicestershire by four runs, Leicestershire collapsing to 79 all out. In a low-scoring game the last two Northamptonshire wickets had put on 62. Surrey and Nottinghamshire managed only three-quarters of an hour and as the first innings of each side had not been completed the game did not count for championship points. The Manchester Guardian said on 6 August, ‘the war is already having its effect on cricket’ with various amateurs off to join their regiments and Kent II left to bat one short against Staffordshire as Lowe had left to join the colours as a reservist. The funeral of Albert Trott, ‘the famous Middlesex and Australian cricketer,’ was reported. Trott’s suicide was a great shock: he had, of course, played Test cricket for both Australia and England and had then had a long and illustrious career with Middlesex. On 7 August Kitchener’s call for 100,000 men topped the front page of the Daily Express . At the bottom of the page a little box urges every able- bodied man under 35 to step forward (oddly since Kitchener’s limit at this point was 30). The Times reports a ‘rush to serve’ at the recruiting office at Great Scotland