LIves in Cricket No 31 - Walter Robins

112 Tour Manager and Law 26 suggestion that there was some doubt about the match being continued, Robbie called for a taxi and went straight round to see Sir Errol dos Santos, president of the West Indian Cricket Board, and not only obtained agreement that the match would definitely restart the following Monday but also negotiated extra time to be added to each of the last three days by starting half an hour earlier to make up for time lost by the disruption. The next day, Sunday 31 January, dos Santos arranged a conference in the Queen’s Park Hotel attended by Robbie, Peter May and Colin Cowdrey; the committee of Queen’s Park Cricket Club, which staged Test matches in Trinidad for the West Indies Board; Gerry Alexander, West Indies captain; and the Commissioner of Police, where the agreement was announced. Robbie repeated his sympathy for all the sportsmen of Trinidad and went on to say that his team firmly intended to return to Trinidad for the Fifth Test unless the West Indies Board should decide otherwise. England went on to win the Test by 256 runs and then Robbie had a few comments to make which Swanton thought, although sound and true for all cricket, were specially appropriate in the context of a Test series in the West Indies. In brief, he reminded international cricketers that they are an example to all others: ‘If they get into the habit of standing at the wicket when given out, it is not a good example. Neither is it protecting the umpires. The umpires do not want bodyguards, but they do want people to play the game in the right way.’ Swanton went on to say: ‘If we never see a significant wait at the crease from now onwards, that will not be the least of Walter Robins’ contribution to the success of the tour.’ The MCC party now moved on to Jamaica where they were comfortably lodged in chalets round a swimming pool in the garden of Courtleigh Manor Hotel and soon joined for a few days by various relatives — two wives, one father and mother, two fathers-in-law, a mother-in-law, a fiancée, and a special surprise for Robbie, his daughter, son-in-law and first grandchild. Ken Came had arranged leave from Kentucky, where he and Penny had been posted, so that they could bring Belinda for her christening, with Mrs Peter May as one of her godparents. At this stage of the tour Swanton gave a short appraisal of how England were progressing: ‘There are developments in this new England side which one is still waiting for, especially on the tactical side, where the approach sometimes is still strangely timid and unadventurous. Walter Robins must have cast his eyes to heaven more than once, for his own philosophy of cricket was so much more positive than that of this generation.’ On the sixth and final day of the Third Test at Sabina Park in Kingston, West Indies were 115 for four at tea, needing another 115 runs to win in 90 minutes. After another 30 minutes that target had been reduced to 85 and with Kanhai just reaching his half-century and well set, a shock victory looked possible. Then he suddenly went down with cramp and after a couple of minutes carried on in obvious discomfort. His partner and captain, Alexander, turned to May and asked for a runner but his