Verily, we remember Verity

Paul Weaver in the Guardian takes a look at the 70th anniversary of a historically significant county match.

The cricketers of Sussex and Yorkshire and their supporters, preoccupied by worries of relegation as they enter today's crucial championship match at Hove, may not notice the elderly man in their midst who links them to a legend. Douglas Verity is 76 now, so was only six years old when his father Hedley, one of England's greatest cricketers, played his final game before going to war. He would not return.

When Germany invaded Poland on 1 September 1939 county cricket was immediately cancelled as everyone prepared for war – except at Hove, where Sussex were playing Yorkshire. Rob Boddie, the librarian at Sussex who has organised a special exhibition at the ground in memory of Verity and the others, takes up the story.

"Yorkshire wired their captain, Brian Sellers, to suggest that the game be called off. It is to his and the Yorkshire players' immense credit that Sellers wired back to say that as it was a benefit match for Jim Parks the players would like to continue and that is what was agreed."