Cricket by Jonathan Agnew

Author:Jonathan Agnew [Jonathan Agnew]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Published: 2013-06-13T16:00:00+00:00

The Edwardian golden age of cricket in England came to an end when war was declared on 4 August 1914. It would take the county game some weeks to abandon its ‘business as usual’ approach. As the scale of British Expeditionary Force casualties became apparent, W. G. Grace stated in a published letter that, ‘It is not fitting at a time like this that able-bodied men should be playing cricket by day and pleasure-seekers look on. I should like to see all first-class cricketers of suitable age set a good example and come to the help of their country without delay in its hour of need.’ The remaining games of the season were abandoned ‘in deference to public opinion’; first-class cricket would not resume until 1919, although Lord’s and the Oval would see a number of matches between sides from the armed services over the next four years and the Lancashire League would play throughout the war.

The battlefields would be no respecter of sporting talent and would claim the lives of 226 men who had played first-class cricket, including England and Kent spin bowler Colin Blythe.

The outbreak of the Second World War brought about a much less dilatory approach to shutting down professional sport. The September 1939 issue of the Cricketer magazine published an apposite and mordant metaphor: ‘England has now begun the grim Test match against Germany.’ The war would end the lives of nine Test match cricketers including the Yorkshire and England bowler Hedley Verity.

In 1953 the Imperial Memorial Gallery (now the MCC Museum) was opened at Lord’s and was dedicated to those cricketers who lost their lives in both world wars of the twentieth century. Today you can see a stone set in the wall of the museum entrance with an inscription that reads, ‘To the memory of cricketers of all lands who gave their lives in the cause of freedom 1914–1918 * 1939–1945. Secure from change in their high-hearted ways.’

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.