LIves in Cricket No 31 - Walter Robins

97 Chapter Twelve The Spirit of Middlesex Undimmed Robbie continued as an England selector in 1949 but was disappointed that the New Zealand tourists had only been allocated three days for each of their four Test matches. He attended the First Test at Leeds but quickly realised that the sides were evenly matched and unlikely to break the deadlock within the time allowed. He thought the situation was ridiculous and decided that he would be more valuable to Mann and Middlesex in another attempt to win the Championship. He was unable to start playing until June but managed to fit in twelve county matches between his Test match duties as selector. The last county match of the season was against Derbyshire at Lord’s. Victory would put Middlesex at the top of the table and make them champions if Yorkshire lost their last match a few days later. The visitors bowled Middlesex out for 139, Robbie top-scoring with 45, to take a lead of 89 and went on to set Middlesex 193 to win. It was Robbie to the rescue again, joining Compton at 36 for five. They added 90 runs in 70 minutes, 50 of them from Robbie, and went on to win by three wickets with Compton 97 not out. But Yorkshire won at Newport and so the two counties shared the title. Robbie’s last appearance that summer was in a one-day match at Bournemouth in aid of the National Playing Fields Association. He was playing against Hampshire for the Duke of Edinburgh’s Eleven which also included Gubby Allen, Freddie Brown, Denis Compton, Errol Holmes, Billy Griffith, Tom Goddard and the Duke himself, president of the NPFA, who won by one wicket, thanks in part to Robbie’s unbeaten 35. The Robins family stayed on in Dorset for a few days and Robbie, Vivian and Charles were invited to play golf at Studland Bay Golf Club. Charles recalls the unexpected end to their visit: Having completed our morning round, I threw a golf ball for a catch wide of my grandfather which ricocheted against the picket fence surrounding the small clubhouse where a few were enjoying pre-lunch drinks on deckchairs, tables etc. One elderly matron rose and came over to the fence and asked me, aged14, what I was doing. I explained my error and apologised which I think she had accepted, when RWV appeared fuming after missing his putt, and then practice putt, on the eighteenth green: ‘The boy’s apologized … what more do you want?’ With that she opened the gate and there followed the most amazing couple of minutes of pure fury. RWV never swore and was pretty good ‘off the cuff’ but he’d met his match! The next day when we turned up to play, the Secretary, a retired Wing Commander who knew RWV from the RAF, was very apologetic but said that the owner had banned him from the course and there was nothing he could do, but as she was