LIves in Cricket No 31 - Walter Robins

98 leaving the following day, he would be welcome any day that she was not around. That lady was Enid Blyton! The famous author of children’s books had indeed bought the club that year, with her husband Dr Kenneth Darrell-Waters, and might have been a little more understanding if she had known that, earlier that year, the MCC Youth Cricket Association had been formed under the chairmanship of Harry Altham, with Robbie on the committee. The purpose was to examine problems concerning the learning and playing of cricket by young people in Britain from 11 to 17 and to consider how best to foster their enthusiasm. The Association started the coaching school at Lilleshall where every autumn an advanced coaching course was offered, ending with the Advanced Coaching Certificate being awarded to successful candidates. During that summer of 1949, Mann had indicated that it would be his last regular season and that Middlesex needed to find a replacement captain. No full-time volunteer came forward and Mann agreed to continue in 1950. Later, though, he withdrew his acceptance and Robbie stepped into the breach, but could play in only ten of the 28 championship fixtures, with the leadership in other games shared out between four players. Robbie’s attention during June was focussed more on the progress of his eldest son, Charles, playing his first season for Eton College and taking wickets in much the same numbers as his father had done at Highgate. To check things out first-hand he put together a team for the Forty Club and went down to Eton to play the College first eleven. The Forty Club had been formed in 1936 with the aim ‘to take cricket to the schools’ by offering schools, both state and public, fixtures against experienced cricketers who would encourage the young cricketers to play the game to the highest standards of performance and behaviour. Robbie proceeded to knock all the young Eton bowlers about, including Charles, before being run out for 71, and when it was Eton’s turn to bat, he took the catch that dismissed Charles who had scored 27, going in at eighth wicket down and leading a fight-back while still more than a hundred runs short of victory. Learning from this experience, Charles continued to take more wickets for the College and was chosen to play in the traditional fixture against Harrow, so that Robbie dropped out of the Middlesex games at Worcester and Leeds to be at Lord’s to give his support and encouragement. Robbie was back leading Middlesex in August, steering them to away wins at Leicester and Hove. His last game that summer was at Lord’s when his top score of 58 out of 161 in the second innings against Surrey could not prevent a loss by six wickets. Without the continuity of a regular captain Middlesex slumped to fourteenth in the table, winning only five of their 28 matches. Ian Peebles commented: ‘At least the spirit of Middlesex under Walter Robins was undimmed, and even in the prevailing adversity he maintained a lively, positive attitude whatever the state of the game.’ After the season had ended business took Robbie to New York and Australia, where he saw some of the Ashes series. He even bowled in the nets to help batsmen struggling with Iverson’s ‘mysteries’. The Spirit of Middlesex Undimmed