LIves in Cricket No 31 - Walter Robins

national newspaper, the Daily Mirror, who offered him a position in the advertising department at a starting salary of £200 per year. But then there arrived what might be an even more intriguing offer. Mabel Robins took a telephone call from Sir Julien Cahn who asked her to pass on the message that he had a proposition for him and would like to hear from him as soon as possible. Robbie was reluctant at first to return the call. He did not relish the idea of becoming another of Sir Julien’s cricket mercenaries who were expected to play for his cricket sides as a condition of their employment with the Nottingham Furniture Company: in particular he remembered the reaction of Ian Peebles, now at Oxford University, to life in Nottingham away from regular first-class cricket. His mother persuaded him that nothing would be lost by just attending a meeting to hear what was being offered by the millionaire businessman, and so he called back and an appointment was arranged to take place at the Cumberland Hotel near Marble Arch. Sir Julien explained that he was setting up a new advertising company to market the furniture sold, mostly by means of attractive hire-purchase arrangements, in his many stores throughout the country. The job would be based in Nottingham and offered the prospect of a commercial career and plenty of cricket. Acceptance meant moving to Nottingham, but it was agreed that Robbie could play a few matches for Middlesex if wanted, provided there were no prior claims of business, and that selection to play for the Sir Julien Cahn XI took precedence over any other invitation. For a young player who might have been on the threshold of a promising Test career, this could have been a major sacrifice. But his future employer dispelled any doubts that Robbie may have been feeling about accepting the proposal. He was offering a salary of £400 per year, twice the Daily Mirror salary, and a place on the all-expenses-paid cricket tour of South America arranged for early 1930. And until the offices in Nottingham were ready for the staff to occupy, Robbie was free to continue to live in London and play football for the Corinthians. In fact, Sir Julien encouraged his football ambitions and later arranged for him to play for Nottingham Forest in a Second Division match against Barnsley on Christmas Day, 1929. (He played a second and final League game for Forest, against Reading, on Christmas Day the following year.) When January 1930 arrived it was time for the third round of the FA Cup and the prospects for Corinthians going further in the competition seemed promising as their opponents, Second Division Millwall, who had been quarter-finalists three years earlier, were having an indifferent season. A crowd of 45,000 packed into the Crystal Palace stadium on Saturday, 11 January to see the two teams draw 2-2, including a goal by Robbie. The replay four days later was at The Den, Millwall’s ground, which attracted an attendance of 33,000, and was drawn after extra time. The second replay had to be held at a neutral ground and Stamford Bridge was chosen for Monday, 20 January. Many offices in the City of London were emptied that afternoon as excited bankers and brokers made their way to support the amateur team that featured a number of fellow members from the world of finance. The Times reported that ‘The stands and mounds round 33 Test Match Debut