LIves in Cricket No 31 - Walter Robins

91 reaching the target. Most teams would have settled for a draw at that stage in preference to going for the runs and risking defeat, but before Denis Compton went in to bat, he thought he should hear his captain’s view on the situation and asked what he should do. Robbie’s reply was typically direct: ‘Go for the bloody runs, of course!’ Needing no further encouragement, Compton and Mann proceeded to hit 161 runs in 98 minutes but eventually, still going for the runs, Compton’s wicket fell to Wright for a magnificent 168 and Middlesex lost by 75 runs. Themost vital game of the season came next at Cheltenham. Gloucestershire now held a four point lead and both sides had played 21 games. The odds favoured the home side as Middlesex would be without Compton and Robertson, who were both playing in the Fifth Test, and Edrich was unable to bowl due to a shoulder injury. Excitement was in the air: ‘The ground was filled to capacity an hour before the start. The weather was magnificent, the setting beautiful and the atmosphere electric.’ Wickets fell rapidly on the first day and Middlesex obtained a first innings lead of 27. Before starting their second innings ten minutes before the close of play, Robbie told his openers Brown and Edrich to see out play but Edrich was soon out lbw to Goddard and so he sent in Sharp as nightwatchman. On the Monday morning the Cheltenham College ground was again bursting at the seams. Brown was bowled early by Goddard, and Robins, ‘always the first up the ladder when a castle was to be stormed’, joined Sharp. They added 70 runs but the innings ended leaving Gloucestershire needing 168 runs to win. The home side made steady progress to 67 for three before Robbie decided it was time to switch from leg-spin to off-breaks and he tossed the ball to Sharp with the instruction, ‘Just keep it tight.’ Sharp did more than that and took three wickets for the addition of only seven runs before Gloucestershire crashed all out for 100, well short of victory. Before the fall of the last wicket, Robbie called the team together and said that at the conclusion he wanted no victory celebrations, but they should walk off the field as if they never doubted any other result. Two more wins followed and when Northamptonshire came to Lord’s on 27 August Middlesex were just twelve points away from the title. At 7.05 pm on Thursday, 28 August, Middlesex became the champion county after an inspirational declaration by Mann in typical Robbie style. Robbie may not have been there for the fulfilment of his dream but everyone knew who was the architect of the great achievement. In Roy Webber’s words, ‘has always led the way for “brighter” (or I prefer, more positive) cricket and this summer was a vindication of his methods. Few post-war captains have been so quick to get a stranglehold on a match as Robins was that season.’ Denis Compton put it: ‘We were a good side and Robins never forgot to remind us of that fact. But he also hammered into us that there could be no let-up. He demanded all-out effort from everybody all day and every day.’ Some historians have since disparaged the success of Middlesex in 1947 as having been achieved on the backs of the incredible batting of Compton and Edrich. But John Arlott has pointed out that ‘of the nine matches they A Fresh Start with Old Friends