LIves in Cricket No 31 - Walter Robins

62 Chapter Seven To Australia with Gubby At an emergency MCC Committee meeting at Lord’s on 20 July 1936, the President informed Gubby Allen, a member of the committee, of his appointment as captain of the MCC team to tour Australia and New Zealand that winter. The press were then notified of the decision and the names of the first six players invited to join the team: Hammond, Leyland, Verity, Hardstaff, Fishlock and Robins. At the beginning of August another four names, Fagg, Copson, Worthington and Duckworth, were added: soon after the selection was completed by the addition of Voce, Barnett, Farnes, Sims, Holmes and confirmation that Ames expected to have recovered from his back problem and would be able to tour. The composition of the touring party was closely examined and became a subject of considerable criticism. The consensus of opinion was that, with no established opening partnership, no off-spinner and several players with little Test experience, the side was one of the weakest ever sent to Australia and that Allen was facing an uphill task. However, some analysts believed that, if Allen could coax and cajole top-class performances from his mixed group of experience and youth, anything might be possible against an Australian team that was itself going through a transitional period after losing several senior players to retirement, and which would probably be playing under the untried leadership of Bradman. Once the team had been chosen, it would have been customary for the MCC to announce the appointment of a vice-captain. No such announcement was made in the summer of 1936. According to the minutes of a meeting held by the sub-committee at the Carlton Club on Sunday, 9 August, a bizarre decision was made: ’In view of the fact that the appointment of a vice-captain might under certain circumstances introduce difficulties during the progress of the tour, it was decided to make no appointment but to empower the captain to appoint a deputy as circumstances might dictate.’ What ‘difficulties’ they were expecting, who would experience those ‘difficulties’, and what ‘certain circumstances might occur’, were not clarified. MCC would not consider any of the professionals as candidates for vice-captain, so the only ‘difficulties’ that might arise would involve the amateurs, Farnes, Robins and Holmes. Farnes could be ruled out as he was too young and inexperienced to step up into leadership, so we are left with Robbie and Holmes. It seems very likely that Allen, with Warner’s approval, may have half-promised Robbie the vice-captaincy, long before he knew that Holmes would be invited to join the tour. The committee, however, may have seen Holmes as a far more suitable choice, bearing in mind that he had already successfully filled that position under Wyatt in the tour of the West Indies in 1934/35, and that as captain of the MCC