LIves in Cricket No 31 - Walter Robins

115 Tour Manager and Law 26 to heal in the hot climate and on the advice of his doctor he would be returning to England with his wife. It was time for everyone to go back to Trinidad for the final Test. Now the arguments began. Without Statham and May, should England hang on to their one-game lead and adopt a defensive approach to avoid losing and therefore win the series? As far as Robbie was concerned every match was a match to be won and there was no other way to approach the game. When the match started it looked as if it was the West Indies who were aiming for a draw after Cowdrey had won the toss and elected to bat. By the end of play on the first day they had bowled no more than 75 overs. England on the other hand had played strokes from first to last and had reached 256 for three. Cowdrey was happy to report that ‘Robins appeared to be quite pleased with our approach.’ This would be the last time in the match that the actions of the England skipper would earn the approval of the manager. Half an hour before the end of the fourth day, dilatory batting and bowling by each side had cancelled each other out when Alexander surprised everyone by deciding that it was time to look for victory. West Indies were still 55 runs behind England’s first innings of 393 and with two wickets in hand, when Alexander declared the innings closed to give his bowlers half an hour to attack the England batting. The decision paid off when Cowdrey was caught by Worrell off Hall without scoring. England struggled on the fifth day to reach 168 for six at tea before Mike Smith and Jim Parks stopped the rot and added another 70 runs by end of play. Going into the last day 293 runs in front and with four wickets in hand seemed the perfect position for England to bat for about 30 minutes and go for some quick runs before declaring and setting West Indies a realistic target with a good chance of bowling them out if they accepted the challenge. This certainly was Robbie’s choice. Peebles commented: ‘Walter, characteristically, wanted to declare early and make a game of it.’ That evening he ‘made his views clear with his customary force.’ Parks and Smith did score quickly on the last morning and soon the question of a declaration needed to be considered if Robbie’s wishes were going to be granted. But he wasn’t there to argue his case. Urgent business matters had detained him at the hotel and in his absence Cowdrey turned to Peebles for advice on how Robbie would react if his very clear expectations were ignored. Peebles pointed out that if the positions were reversed, the West Indies would certainly not contemplate taking such a risk and that, as much as Robbie might disapprove, he would eventually understand why England had continued batting until they were in no danger of defeat. Cowdrey’s idea of being out of danger meant batting on after lunch, delaying his declaration until Parks had completed his maiden Test century, and then giving the West Indies the impossible task of making 406 in 140 minutes. When Robbie arrived early in the afternoon to discover what had taken place he was furious and entered the England dressing-room and rebuked Cowdrey in front of all those present before dissociating himself from the