1938-39

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CRICKET
until the Air Force had had time. to build up the game within the
Service. The match against the R.A.F. at the Oval had been a
debacle, as might have been expected owing to the fact that so young
a Service had had no chance to finding a team capable of making a
match of it. Up to and including
192'7
matches were played annually
against the Navy and Public Schools, at Lords, and the two
Universities ; and in
192'7
a match was played between the Army
and the New Zealanders on their first visit to England, at Folkestone.
The R.A.F. did make a request that the match with the Army
be revived in
192'7,
but as the match against the New Zealanders
had already been arranged, it was decided to postpone the revival of
the match with the R.A.F. till
1928.
During
192'7,
owing, perhaps, to that one additional match, very
great difficulty had been experienced in obtaining, the best sides
for all matches. This difficulty had been growing, and in that year
it reached its climax. The matches against Oxford and Cambridge
had to be played early in the season, when military training was at
its height, and to play these matches at anything less than full
strength was to court disaster. Up to date, the Army had virtually
held its own in these matches, but anxiety was felt lest ignominious
defeat should be its portion if the team was not absolutely representa-
tive, and that the Universities might then, on their own initiative,
discontinue the matches. It was considered advisable to eliminate
this possibility, and it was therefore decided, very reluctantly, to
discontinue these matches. For
1928,
then, there were to be only
three Army matches 'the Navy, the R.A.F., and the Public Schools;
and with such an attenuated programme the Adjutant-General, who
was chairman at the time, gave an undertaking that leave would be
forthcoming for any Officer or man selected to play for the Army.
These three matches only were played for the next two years, but
the M.C.C. offered a match at Lords in
193o
against the Club, and
it was decided to accept the offer. At about the same time a match
against the New Zealanders was offered in
1931,
and this offer was
accepted on behalf of the Combined Services, after the consent of
the Navy and the R.A.F. had been obtained. In
1931
the same
four matches were played, aginst the Navy, the Public Schools and
M.C.C., all at Lords, and the R.A.F. at the Oval.
Since
1931
the match with M.C.C. has been discontinued owing
to fixtures in
1932
with the Indians and the South Americans, in
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with the West Indies, and in
1934
with the Australians.
In
1934
a suggestion by the R.A.F. that all the matches of the
Inter-Services tournament should be played within ten days as a
cricket festival at Eastbourne was considered by the Army and
Royal Navy Cricket Associations. It was felt that the present venue
of Inter-Service fixtures could not be bettered and no advantage
would accrue if all the fixtures were to take place away from London
or Service centres. In addition, ten days' leave for players would
probably be difficult to obtain, and if the proposal failed the present
fixtures at Lords would probably be difficult to renew if once allowed
to lapse. The suggestion was therefore turned down.