LIves in Cricket No 31 - Walter Robins

128 trust us to make the right decision.’ Soon after moving to St John’s Wood, the final of the new one-day knock- out competition was held at Lord’s before a capacity crowd, ‘cheering on their favourites and flaunting banners and coloured rosettes as if they were at Wembley.’ At long last, one of Robbie’s dreams for the future of cricket was had been realised. Robbie’s last responsibility as chairman of the selectors that year was to put together a team for the MCC winter tour of India, reduced to only ten matches but still containing five Tests. All eyes turned to the arrival in England of the latest Australian tourists and the expectation of another thrilling Test series like the West Indian tour twelve months earlier. But before the Test series got underway, Robbie made one more visit to Eton College with another team from the Forty Club. Since 1950, he had captained a team almost every year at the start of the season, taking with him numerous volunteers as keen as himself to encourage schoolboy cricket, including such great players, by then retired, as both the Compton brothers, Denis and Leslie; both Bedser twins, Alec and Eric; Godfrey Evans and Laurie Fishlock; ex-England captains George Mann and Freddy Brown; the Australians Keith Miller, Ben Barnett and Arthur Morris; New Zealander Martin Donnelly; as well as friends Ian Peebles and Jim Swanton. When the Test matches did start, with Dexter back at the helm for England, they were frequently affected by bad weather and never lived up to expectations. It was much the same old story — slow play, negative bowling, defensive fields, and time wasting. When the two teams met at Old Trafford for the Fourth Test, Simpson, the Australian captain, had only one result in mind. If this Test was drawn, Australia would retain the Ashes, even if England went on to win at The Oval. As far as he was concerned, nothing else mattered. It was the negation of everything that Robbie believed cricket, at any level, should aspire to. Winning the toss, Simpson opened the innings on Thursday morning, 23 July, and was still batting 12 hours and 40 minutes later before he was out for 311 at 646 for six on Saturday afternoon. When England started batting, with only a draw to play for, they were equally dour and Barrington responded with 256 in eleven hours and 23 minutes, while Dexter took eight hours for his 174. A saddened Robbie wrote to Bradman: ‘I was not enamoured of the cricket at Old Trafford and, in fact, on the Friday afternoon I crept out and went to the cinema.’ There was another draw at The Oval so Simpson could also claim to having won the series although this failed to impress Robbie who wrote to Bradman: ‘I will make no comment on the cricket because although affected by bad weather it was the dullest series I have ever seen between England and Australia.’ Earlier, Robbie and his committee had chosen the side to go on the MCC tour to South Africa that winter. They beat the South Africans 1-0, so Robbie’s period as chairman ended on a positive note, as he had decided to resign. When Bradman heard the news, he wrote immediately to express his regret and Robbie replied: ‘You say you are sorry that I have given up the chairmanship but I had to, because I was Chairman of England Selectors