LIves in Cricket No 31 - Walter Robins

136 Final Years His obituary in the Wisden almanack of 1969 said that Robbie would ‘live in history as one the most dynamic all-round cricketers of his time.’ Among the tributes included was one from Doug Insole: ‘Walter’s death is a sad blow. He was the greatest exponent ever of “brighter cricket”, though never for its own sake, but because he believed such cricket achieved greater success. As a selector his judgment of a player was excellent.’ Two years later in Lord’s: 1946-1970 , written by Ian Peebles in partnership with Diana Rait Kerr, Peebles took the opportunity to pay further tribute to Robbie: ‘No cricketer ever brought to the game a more propitious mixture of devotion, enthusiasm, knowledge and humour. Nor did anyone ever strive harder to serve it in every sphere, not least by playing it as he believed it ought to be played — with joy and enterprise — on all occasions.’ That summer the President of Middlesex County Cricket Club, G.C.Newman, unveiled wooden benches in the Lord’s gardens erected in memory of five Middlesex amateurs, A.J.Webb, F.T.Mann, N.E.Haig, G.E.V.Crutchley and R.W.V.Robins. Whenever members of the Robins family are able to gather together on match days they enjoy a picnic lunch sitting on the bench bearing Robbie’s name, his sole memorial at the ground, and raise their glasses, rightly, in his memory. Robbie’s memorial bench in the garden behind the Warner Stand at Lord’s.