Despite the absence of the County Championship between 1940 and 1945, over the course of six English domestic wartime seasons cricket aficionados could still enjoy the exploits of many prominent players due to the efforts of the British Empire XI.
The British Empire Club was initially formed by 19-year-old Desmond Donnelly, who later became a Labour MP, to raise funds for the Red Cross and to maintain public morale by providing cricketing entertainment across as much of the country as possible. Whilst most fixtures took place in the home counties, despite difficulties in wartime travel, forays were also made around the country, including to Coventry, Trent Bridge and Cardiff. Matches were overwhelmingly well-attended, and spectators proved especially keen to bid for autographed bats signed by the XI’s players. Sums of up to £30 (over £1600 at today’s value) were not unusual.
`Bertie’ Clarke, the popular Caribbean all-rounder
The team’s ever-changing representatives featured a blend of county players, prominent club cricketers and the Caribbean capabilities of Dr C.B. `Bertie’ Clarke, who took 665 wickets in his Empire XI career. On occasions leave from military or civilian duties allowed some star names to play, including Denis Compton, Keith Miller, Bob Wyatt, Learie Constantine, Trevor Bailey and Walter Robins.
The British Empire XI played a staggering 243 matches over six years, raising over £15,000 for war charities in the process. Fixtures were predominantly of one day’s duration, with sporting declarations being used to extract maximum entertainment from the available playing time. Post-match social events were at the core of the British Empire Club’s ethos, with dances, raffles and Dutch auctions adding to the monies raised for charity.
Ray Smith, British Empire XI captain 1942-45
The popular Essex stalwart Ray Smith assumed the team captaincy from 1942 onwards. He proved the right man for the role of skipper of a group of travelling cricketers in a wartime context, it being written that, `All those who were fortunate enough to play under him were loud in their praise for his consistent consideration of anyone but himself.’
Smith and his teammates ensured that the emphasis was always on an attacking and entertaining style of play. As was the case with the old All-England touring XIs of the mid-nineteenth century, many a modest club player would be able to tell his grandchildren that they once crossed cricketing swords with the greats.
Despite hopes that the XI might continue to play semi-competitive Sunday exhibition matches in the post-war era, a farewell dinner was held in September 1945.
E. Hoskin’s evocative Shadows Over the Wicket
The team’s memorial can be found in two places. Firstly, in the evocative book Shadows Over the Wicket, written in 1945 by the team’s scorer, Ernest Hoskin. His summation was that `Shadows may have been cast over the wicket, but the old glories of the game were nobly upheld by both the players and the ever-enthusiastic public’.
The second repository of the efforts of the British Empire XI was the hearts and minds of those who managed to escape from their wartime exigencies for a few precious hours to revel in the talents of the players of recent yesteryear, and those who would adorn the post-war cricket world.
The British Empire XI’s existence may have been a fleeting one, but its presence in wartime cricket helped to sustain the game’s players, spectators, and reputation during some of the darkest days of cricket’s history.
