COUNTY CRICKET continued despite the declaration of war but, during the next round of matches, starting on Bank Holiday Monday 3 August, teams began to be depleted and matches commensurately devalued. Against Essex at Derby, Derbyshire lost leading batsman John Chapman who, the Post reported, “fielded during the morning but was called away by the War Office in the afternoon, having been commissioned to buy horses”. Without him, Derbyshire were all out for 31 and 94.
In the Roses match at Old Trafford, Lancashire were deprived of their captain when “in the course of the afternoon, Mr A.H. Hornby was called up by the War Office in connection with the purchase of remounts and immediately left the ground for home to receive instructions. Sir Archibald White, the Yorkshire captain, and Mr R.H. Spooner are also expected to be called up”.
For Worcestershire’s visit to Edgbaston, Warwickshire remained at full strength but, though the visitors began that way, they were reduced to nine men after the second day when brothers Geoffrey and Neville Foster were “called away to fulfil military duties”. Their departures spoiled the game as substitutes Charles Collier and Arthur Conway were not allowed to bat. Although Warwickshire were closing in on an unlikely victory late on the last day of the rain-affected match, everyone was pleased that rain returned before they could defeat heavily disadvantaged opponents.
The Bears’ winning position had been forced by Jeeves whose opening-day analysis of 7-52 included another five victims clean bowled. From the City End, the Post observed, “varying his attack with great judgement he was most successful with a ball that whipped back but managed to get a surprising degree of pace out of the pitch”. Worcestershire were all out for 122.
Rain permitted only 75 minutes of play on the second day but the 4,000 spectators were at least cheered briefly when, during a bright spell in the afternoon, Foster, Jeeves, Hands and Howell ventured out for a spot of fielding practice. “This commendable move was watched with keen interest and provoked frequent outbursts of enthusiasm,” commented the Post.
On the final day, play did not begin until 4pm. Warwickshire resumed their first innings on 82/4 and advanced to 139, securing three points for a first-innings lead. Worcestershire then went back in with less than an hour’s play left but, with only nine men eligible to bat, hit deep trouble as they lurched to 7/4. Foster started with seven successive maidens and Jeeves opened up with 8-4-7-2 but, to relief all round, another downpour at 6pm ended the match.
With war underway, Warwickshire’s committee considered abandoning the season but decided, in common with the other counties, that to do so would achieve little. Indeed, they continued to plan for the following season and accepted offers from Essex and Nottinghamshire to resume fixtures with them in 1915. In the immediate term, next came a home game against familiar opposition. Yorkshire were on a roll of six successive wins and, even without captain Sir Archibald, comfortably made it seven. They were victorious by 163 runs, despite Jeeves taking 4-67 in their first innings and hitting a “vigorous” 22.
The following day’s Post contained its usual detailed report of play at Edgbaston. On the front page, meanwhile, was a strident and foreboding plea. On 8 August, the paper’s many thousands of readers read: “YOUR KING AND COUNTRY NEEDS YOU – a call to arms – An addition of 100,000 men to His Majesty’s regular army is immediately necessary. Terms of Service: General service for a period of three years or until the war is concluded. Age of enlistment between 19 and 30.
“HOW TO JOIN: full information can be obtained at any post office in the kingdom OR at any military depot. GOD SAVE THE KING.”
The Call to Arms was enthusiastically received. Enlistment in Birmingham was heavy with long queues forming at recruiting offices despite torrential rain. Jeeves was determined to do his patriotic duty but was contracted to play out the cricket season for the county. Four games remained and Warwickshire intended to fulfil them.
Their visit to Derby went ahead despite Derbyshire having lost Chapman and captain Richard Baggallay to the army. On a wet pitch, 20 wickets fell on the first day. Frank Foster and Sydney Santall took five each to bowl the home side out for 122 before Warwickshire replied with 126, Jeeves top-scoring with 36. Next day, Jeeves took 4-35 as Derbyshire folded again. Foster then smashed 48 in 25 minutes to hurry his side to a six-wicket win. Poor batting conditions contributed to the brevity of the match but applying one’s mind to batting was difficult when family, friends and colleagues were on the way to war.
That match was over in a day and a half. The next was concluded in a day and an hour. When Kent visited Edgbaston, 30 wickets fell in the first three sessions. Warwickshire were bowled out for 111 by 22-year-old leg-spinner Percy ‘Tich’ Freeman, whose 7-25 unveiled a talent which was to bring him 3,776 first-class wickets at 18.42 over the next 22 years. Kent then looked set for a useful lead at 106/6, with David Jennings and Lionel Troughton building a partnership, but they were separated by some Jeeves magic.
“A brilliant bit of fielding turned the tide,” the Post recorded. “A ball from Jeeves was cut in the direction of point and the batsmen started to run. The bowler dashed headlong for the ball, however, and in one movement picked it up and threw the wicket down, Jennings dropping his bat in the crease a second too late.”
In the same over, Jeeves bowled Colin Blythe and Arthur Fielder for ducks to send Kent tumbling towards 111 all out.
With the scores level on first innings, the Bears then came a cropper against a bowler called Fielder. The veteran paceman took 7-34 to rattle Warwickshire out for 78. Kent coasted to a nine-wicket win on the second morning, despite the early loss of Punter Humphries “completely baffled by a ball which pitched leg and hit off” from Jeeves.
Printed alongside cricket scores in the papers now, however, were casualty reports from the war. The British Expeditionary Force was sustaining heavy losses and cricket was starting to appear frivolous and irrelevant as the conflict escalated. Surrey lost use of The Oval to the military and MCC decided to have no cricket at Lord’s in September. The traditional end-of-season Champion County v Rest of England match was cancelled.
Warwickshire’s next game, against Hampshire at Northlands Road, attracted small crowds. Hampshire won by four wickets after one of Jeeves’s quietest matches; he scored six and four and took 1-81 and 0-20. The stand-out performance came from Hampshire leg-spinner Arthur Jaques who took 7-51 as his team closed in on victory.
Like Jeeves, Jaques was soon to join up. Two young men, whose lives began within two days of each other in March 1888 and went on to grace the cricket fields of England, would soon lose those lives in the muddy hell of the Western Front.