Chapter Twenty-Four Wartime Holidays In the darkest days, Herbert Morrison, the Home Secretary, made the point that total war might not mean total misery. Thus after Dunkirk in July 1940, Ernest Bevin, the Minister of Labour, anxious that some recreation should be provided to ease the strain of the war effort, asked that a cricket team should be sent to the industrial north. There was no Championship from 1940 to 1945 but two new teams – London Counties and the British Empire XI – were formed, providing valuable relaxation for players and spectators and raising money for charity. Thus after a week in May 1940 during which Winston Churchill became Prime Minister following the Commons debate over the debacle of the Norwegian campaign and Germany invaded the Netherlands, solace could be found in cricket over the Whit weekend: MCC v Westminster School on the Saturday, Cambridge University defeating the British Empire XI on Saturday, Monday and Tuesday (Norman Yardley, JR Thompson, JR Bridger and ER Conradi made hundreds and a Freshman from Sherborne, HJC Bashford, took six for 36 in the second innings) and, on Saturday and Monday, Leicestershire v Northamptonshire and Nottinghamshire v Derbyshire. There was one major victim. Sir PelhamWarner, MCC’s deputy assistant secretary, planned a two-day match for the Whit holiday at Lord’s, Over-30s v Under-30s, but the match was cancelled after the Hitler offensive. The most competitive cricket was played in the leagues, notably the Lancashire League and the Bradford League, where, in 1943, 80 first-class cricketers appeared. With men on leave or engaged in essential occupations such as coal mining, the Bradford League, the only one still to pay its professionals, found itself awash with talent. It was a similar story in the Birmingham League, although not quite to the same degree. League cricket had always been popular and the Bank Holidays were key dates, although in 1940 August Bank Holiday was cancelled as the Government appealed for continuous working that week, some cricket still being played. At Whitsun there would be matches on Saturday and Whit Monday. Eddie Paynter played for England against the West Indies in 1939; on Whit Monday 1940, he scored 150 not out in the Bradford League for Keighley against Lightcliffe. In the Bradford League, the Priestley Cup was the top attraction on August Bank Holiday Mondays. Sometimes the semi-finals took place on the Monday and the final later in the month. In 1945 this changed to the final at Bradford Park Avenue ground on the holiday Monday. Roy Genders, a player with vast experience of league cricket, said it was known as Priestley Cup Final Day. “All that week talk in the Men’s Clubs, coming out of chapel, on the various cricket grounds and in almost every home in Bradford, and for miles around too, has the Priestley Cup Final as the chief topic. Nobody in Bradford goes away for August Bank Holiday, neither mother, wife nor girl friend dare suggest such a thing. A week at Blackpool or Scarborough later in the summer, maybe, but not this weekend, for Bank Holiday Monday is Priestley Cup Day whichever side is playing. For this is 126