History of Bucks CCC

Charles Cobb was not playing. His season was then cut short as he joined a team touring America under the leadership of the Yorkshire amateur Frank Mitchell, a man not to be confused with Bucks’ own Frank Mitchell mentioned above. Robinson, who played a few matches for Cambridge without winning a blue, made one further appearance for Bucks in the first match of the 1896 season after which no more was heard of him in local circles until 1907. By this time he had returned to South Africa, the country of his birth, and played for Natal with sufficient success to be selected for the South African team that toured England in 1907. By now ordained, he was the reserve wicket-keeper and vice-captain. He was never chosen for the Test team and played in only six games on the tour, but he was able to make himself available for Bucks’ last two matches in which, as the Rev CD Robinson, he was the wicket-keeper. Financial crises The enthusiasm that had greeted the advent of competition for the minor counties in the 1890s soon gave way to worries that sprang from the misplaced optimism of those who plotted the future of the County Club. The completion of the County Ground had been voted a great success and its facilities had expanded as planned to allow for a lawn tennis section, where lady members could also play - though not on match days! A bowls section thrived and athletics events were also staged. But the cost of county cricket strained the budget. Matches were invariably attended by the great and the good with mayoral chains and clerical collars in evidence among the local gentry, but reports seldom spoke of much popular support. It was expensive to stage a match and even in good weather crowds could be disappointingly thin, with no more than £25 coming from gate money for four two-day matches in 1898 to offset expenses that topped £150. Moreover, there were ongoing costs in maintaining the ground, so it was just as well that there remained a healthy band of members paying their subscriptions. The committee began to re-think its policy of making the County Ground the stage for all home matches. It was now argued that it was too far for supporters to travel from the south of the county to watch the cricket. From 1899 county matches at Aylesbury were reduced to three with the fourth home fixture moving further north to Bletchley Park. By 1903 Aylesbury was down to two matches and there was something to watch for those in the south of the county as High Wycombe was back on the list. In 1904 Slough hosted its first Bucks fixture and county cricket returned to Wolverton, where the ground now used was no longer The Big Field but the recently opened Wolverton CC Ground at Osborne Street, where the Wolverton Club still plays. By 1905 the County Ground had been reduced to a single match. With just one exception this was to remain its ration until the Great War, after which no county matches were played in Aylesbury until 1993. In what was a total reversal of the committee’s original plan, the wisdom of retaining ownership of the ground itself would soon be called into question. The move to Bletchley Park was an interesting one. This was a private ground on the estate of Mr Herbert Leon, a stockbroker who was to be created a baronet in 1911, the year in which he also held the presidency of the County Cricket Club. He had been a vice-president since 1896 and he and his wife could guarantee a hospitable welcome to the teams whilst there would be a reduction in the expenses associated with a match at a members’ club. Sir Herbert died in 1926, but county cricket continued to be played at Bletchley Park each year until 1933. At the outbreak of World War II the Victorian style mansion and its grounds were acquired as a home for the code-breakers whose 28 Financial crises CD Robinson