1941

Wartime restrictions on paper meant that the print run was cut from 8000 to 3200 (with only 800 cloth-board issues), while the number of pages was slashed from 871 to 426. Coverage concentrated on representative matches. The Public Schools' report was missing - posted but destroyed en route by the Luftwaffe, while the original script perished in a simultaneous air raid. Production was delayed when the publisher's offices were destroyed by enemy action at the end of 1940. Things got worse when more copy at the printer's office - stored in a safe for extra protection - was burnt in another attack. Informal county cricket continued, although Essex's fixtures were curtailed when the county was declared a Defence Area and all travel to it banned. The Lancashire League continued, although all contracts with professionals were cancelled. Bosser Martin, the groundsman responsible for the Oval featherbeds of the inter-war years, retired after 51 years' service. MCC generously halved Middlesex's rental for using Lord's to £350, even though Middlesex played no games.
Editor Haddon Whitaker
Pages 426
Price 5/- (soft) / 7/6 (cloth)

Almanack essays

Notes on the season

1940