LIves in Cricket No 31 - Walter Robins

32 played a vital role in a century seventh-wicket partnership with Maurice Leyland while scoring 45 in The Rest’s second innings and then destroyed Nottinghamshire’s second innings with six for 89 to help deny the champion county’s victory by eight runs. Robbie finished the season with 1,134 runs at an average of 26.37 and 162 wickets at an average of 21.53. Peebles summed up his friend’s bowling talents: Walter Robins at this time was the best English leg-tweaker I ever saw. He bowled at around medium pace with a fine, long, swinging action, and spun the ball more than anyone else in the game outside Australia. His googly was hard to read and came off the pitch with the same venom as the leg-break. He made no great pretensions to flight and was occasionally erratic, but his pace and spin discounted this. Robbie was nominated as one of the five ‘Cricketers of the Year’ in the Wisden for 1930. The almanack approved of his ‘hard hitting’ and his cover fielding but there was some reservation about his bowling potential: As a googly bowler, he still has something to learn, his fault being that he tries to bowl too fast, and as his trajectory is consequently much lower than that of, say, Freeman, his flight is rarely deceptive. For his success he relies on his very powerful finger-spin which enable him to make the ball turn quickly and at a sharp angle. On his day, he is likely to run through any side but much of his good work is spoiled by erratic length. As a batsman he is a fine driver, hitting the ball very hard on either side. Peebles disagreed with the Wisden assessment: ‘He was then unfortunately prevailed upon by some pundits to flight the ball and, though always a rare good tweaker, never fulfilled his glorious potential.’ * * * * * * * Less than four weeks after the end of the cricket season, Robbie was playing football for the Corinthians. But as much as he was enjoying his football, the 23-year-old Robbie realised that he could not expect his parents to continue to feed, clothe and provide a home for him indefinitely, as willing as they may have been to do so. That autumn he had also started to ‘step out’ regularly with Kathleen Knight, the daughter of a senior Lloyd’s underwriter, and grand-daughter of Sir Henry Knight, Lord Mayor of London in 1882/83. They had met at a golf course in East Molesey when Kathleen had been asked by a girlfriend to make up a foursome with Robbie and his friend. Kathleen wrote in her memoir: ‘Walter was far too full of himself and I was not at all attracted, but he invited us out to dinner in London the following week and of course I accepted!’ Kathleen was very attractive but a reserved and serious young lady taking a drama course at the Royal Academy of Music and not easily impressed. Nevertheless, Robbie was determined to win her over and invited her as often as he could to go dining and dancing with him at the Berkeley Hotel, a popular place with his friends, and Kathleen enjoyed her introduction to the social side of London at what was known as a ‘debs’ dive’. So Robbie was delighted when his growing reputation as a successful allround sportsman had attracted the attention of the management of the Test Match Debut