Lives in Cricket No 6 - Bill Copson

Chapter Six World War Two The Second World War had an immediate impact on the lives, careers and circumstances of so many people in different ways. R.C.Robertson-Glasgow, writing for the 1940 Wisden only a few months after the German invasion of Poland, commented that ‘to look back on the English cricket season of 1939 is like peeping through the wrong end of a telescope.’ Even in the first few months, there were few families in the country who were not affected to some degree by the upheaval caused to their everyday lives by events. Mass evacuation of children from cities and other areas, compulsory National Service, a rigidly enforced blackout system, food and fuel rationing, the curtailment of leisure and entertainment services, the drafting of civilians into specific areas of employment, and severely reduced transport services were just some of the major changes introduced in 1939, whose effects cumulated thereafter. Industry and agriculture were gradually transformed to meet the needs of national defence and to make the United Kingdom more self-sufficient. To their credit, the English cricket authorities very wisely decided that it was essential for the public to be able to continue to watch the game as much as possible in wartime, in order to maintain morale. Professional first-class cricketers were immediately affected as their contracts were all suspended. Many of them volunteered for or were conscripted into the armed services; or were directed into essential war work such as munitions. Although the normal County Championship was obviously suspended for the duration, some counties continued to play friendly matches throughout the war. A full programme of one and occasionally two day matches was arranged at Lord’s. The various leagues in the Midlands and North of England continued to function: many first-class cricketers who found themselves living or working in particular areas were readily co-opted into local teams. In the south, a British Empire XI, which played 243 matches over the six seasons 1940 to 1945, was founded by Desmond Donnelly, then an unknown nineteen year old who later became a 58