LIves in Cricket No 31 - Walter Robins

16 Highgate and East Molesey in to open the innings. Facing their father’s bowling, the two boys set about hitting him, and the rest of the East Molesey attack, all over the field. Walter made 102 and Vernon 72. Walter was welcomed into the East Molesey team immediately afterwards and went on to play eight times for them that summer, although he was overshadowed by his father who headed both batting and bowling averages. Uncle Vernon was less successful than his brother, but his enthusiasm won many admirers at the club and three years later he was voted captain, a position he would hold for nearly twenty years. His name in the scorebook was always prefaced by his military title, Lieutenant-Colonel, a commission he had earned while serving in the Great War. His most famous achievement for the club, however, was not actually on the field of play but would be revealed twelve years later. It came as no surprise that Walter was chosen to play at Lord’s in 1924 for The Rest against Lord’s Schools. The Lord’s Schools team was selected from the boys who had appeared in one of the four Public School matches played during the previous two weeks at Lord‘s. The selection of The Rest eleven was based on recommendations and reports received from the remaining public schools throughout England and Wales. Brimming with confidence, Walter opened the batting and scored 97 runs. This fine innings was later described by R.L.Hodgson, writing as a ‘Country Vicar’ in The Cricketer : A short, squarely-built boy was hitting the bowling all over the field and running between wickets like a rabbit. The nearer he got to three figures the more freely he played. It was a delightful innings [and] he fully deserved a century, if only for the way in which he never slowed down. Walter was brought back down to earth in his second innings when he was bowled for nought but The Rest ran out winners by five wickets. In the follow-up game at Lord’s two days later, playing for the Public Schools eleven against The Army he was again soon out for only a single and then ten in the second innings. This lack of success was the wake-up call he needed and when asked to play for a Public Schools side against Battersea he made an heroic 30 out of an innings total of 96. Playing for Middlesex Club and Ground against Hornsey he had completely recovered his previous form with 89 out of 183 and before returning to school for the autumn term, he top-scored with 50 out of 155 for the Middlesex Young Amateurs against the Essex Young Amateurs on the County Ground at Leyton. In 1925 Walter was selected again to play at Lord’s for The Rest against Lord’s Schools at the beginning of August, followed by another appearance in the Public Schools eleven against The Army. His 74 runs from three innings were less than expected and only two wickets from 23 overs at a cost of 84 runs even more disappointing. It was as a batsman that Walter was then asked to join the Middlesex team at Worcester to make his debut in a County Championship match. Perhaps he was a little overawed at finding himself in the same eleven as Harry Lee, Nigel Haig, Patsy Hendren,