Duty calls

	As war clouds gathered, London life went on undisturbed ... Mrs Eric Chaplin and her children arrive at the Eton v Harrow match at Lord's on July 11 © Getty Images Enlarge
Related Links Rewind to : The gathering storm Editor's notes : Notes by the Editor 1915 Players/Officials: Arthur Carr | W.G. Grace | Monkey Hornby | Sir Pelham Warner | Archibald White Teams: England | Marylebone Cricket Club | Surrey

It is often assumed that when war broke out in Europe in August 1914 cricket stopped immediately. In fact, although men were joining up by the day in their tens of thousands, cricket rumbled on in England for several more weeks. It was only the intervention of WG Grace, allied to growing reports of heavy casualties at the Battle of Mons, that brought a premature curtain down on the season.

There had growing feeling on inevitability about war since the end of June, and by the beginning of August it was clear that Britain would be sucked in. On August 3, a Bank Holiday Monday, 14,555 people flocked to The Oval to watch Jack Hobbs make a then career-best 226.

At Old Trafford, Monkey Hornby was called from the field where he was captaining Lancashire against Yorkshire and summoned to the War Office, and within hours Sir Archibald White, Yorkshire's skipper was heading south to join his regiment. The following evening war was declared against Germany, and within 48 hours a number of other players, including Pelham Warner, Middlesex's captain, and Arthur Carr, Nottinghamshire's skipper, abandoned their cricket commitments and headed off to war.

At the request of the government, cricket continued. But within days it was clear that the rush to enlist was leaving gaps in the county teams, and it was also affecting attendances as watching sport was no longer a priority. The Canterbury week began but the marquees were empty and the dances, so much a feature of the festival, were cancelled.

On August 6, MCC issued a statement saying that ""no good purpose can be saved at the moment by canceling matches" but heavy rain washed out most games for the remainder of the week. Hobbs was due to have a benefit match at The Oval starting on August 10, but the ground was requisitioned by the army and so he was given the choice of cancellation or switching to Lord's. He chose the latter, and so Surrey had the odd experience of playing a home match in St John's Wood. Financially, it was a failure as the crowds stayed away.

On August 19, Kent had to move their match against Lancashire from Dover to Canterbury on account of the military build-up and resulting congestion in the area. Poor weather continued to blight the late season, but the euphoria which followed the outbreak of war was quickly giving way to concern at the bad news coming from Belgium where the British Expeditionary Force was in retreat.

On August 26 the headlines of the newspapers were dominated by the BEF suffering 2000 casualties. The ludicrousness of carrying on with cricket was becoming increasingly obvious, not only because of the growing number of players who had joined up but also the difficulty in traveling by train on anything other than urgent business.

The following day, Grace's letter appeared in The Sportsman. "'I think the time has arrived when the county cricket season should be closed, for 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 reaction was instantaneous, and not everyone was prepared to hold back. One correspondent wrote: "Are rugger men … going to follow the perfidious example of their chicken-hearted brethren among cricket's amateurs?".

Although it is often written that Grace's letter brought an immediate end to cricket, it did not, rumbling on for almost another week. The national newspapers stopped carrying anything but the briefest of scores. At The Oval, back in Surrey 's hands, Gloucestershire could only field ten men.

Attitudes hardened by the day. On August 31, Lord Roberts, speaking to a newly-formed regiment in London, took time out to praise its volunteers. "How different is your action to that of the men who can still go on with their cricket and football as if the very existence of this country was not at stake." Editorials in newspapers swung from grumbling disapproval of those continuing to play and watch to out-and-out hostility.

	WG Grace takes centre stage in his penultimate game on July 25, 1914. He was 66 © ESPNcricinfo Ltd Enlarge

The final action of the first-class season took place at Hove on September 2 where Sussex were playing Yorkshire . "The men's hearts were barely in the game," Cricket reported, "and the match was given up as a draw at tea." Twenty-five years and one day later, the last game before the outbreak of World War Two was between the same sides on the same ground.

Surrey, who led the Championship at the time of its curtailment, were awarded the title but by then few cared as the daily reports of losses in Belgium continued to grow longer.

In December 1914 several counties were still talking about playing a reduced programme the following summer, and there were discussions about a knockout competition with the bulk of the first-class counties bolstered by combined Minor County sides. In the event, the war dragged on for another four years and there was to be no resumption of first-class cricket until 1919.

In all, 210 first-class cricketers are believed to have joined up, of which 34 were killed. However, the obituary sections of Wisden between 1915 and 1919 contained the names of hundreds of players and officials of all standards who had died.

Is there an incident from the past you would like to know more about? Email us with your comments and suggestions.