Lives in Cricet No 33 - Jack Robertson and Syd Brown

114 New Partners he batted for four and a half hours, such was the quality of his batting that The Times said that he was ‘never tedious’. Jack celebrated his fortieth birthday in 1957. He had his best season since 1952, made his first double-century for six years, and found an opening partner. Finishing just behind Compton at the top of the Middlesex championship averages, in all matches he made 2,155 runs at an average of 37.80. Given that the Lord’s pitches during the season proved to be especially bowler-friendly and rarely failed to yield a result, this was a considerable achievement. The new opener was the powerful left-hander Bob Gale. Bedfordshire-born like Jack’s early mentor Jack Durston, he would serve Middlesex well until the mid 1960s. After a few double-figure partnerships he and Jack clicked against Sussex at the beginning of June, bothmaking centuries in a partnership of 209. 155 With a four off the last ball of the session Jack made a first day pre-lunch century for the third time in his career, although curiously he then took an hour to add 18 more before he was out. Although they never opened with a hundred again during the season, they proved a consistent pairing ensuring that Middlesex usually got off to a good start. Jack made two other championship centuries. The first was a dominant 201 not out against Essex at the end of July, with the next highest individual score just 38. The second, again at Lord’s, against Worcestershire, was made in Denis Compton’s last appearance as a professional for Middlesex. Appropriately, the great man signed off with a first-innings century, and Jack had the honour of staying in with him whilst they shared a third-wicket stand of 225. Arguably, however, Jack’s best performance was at Northampton earlier in the month when he top- scored in both innings against a powerful attack that would take the home side to second place in the Championship. Among the bowlers he faced were Tyson, who took a hundred wickets in the season for the only time in his career, and Australian unorthodox left-arm spinner George Tribe, who took 1,021 wickets for the county in just eight seasons. In the first innings, while nobody else passed 20, Jack made 94 out of 192, ‘making a succession of beautifully placed shots against both pace and spin’. At the other end of the scale, at Chesterfield in July, courtesy of Les Jackson, he made the last of his six ducks against Derbyshire, in a Middlesex second innings that recovered from 13 for nine to 29 all out. His 38 in the first innings was however the highest score made by any batsman in the match. Jack clearly took his position as senior professional seriously and at the request of the capped players he wrote to the Secretary asking whether the committee would review the professionals’ salaries. It was a good case and a 10% rise was agreed for all contracted players. For professionals like Jack himself who were on the Grade A scale, this meant an annual wage of £600. In addition the maximum annual bonus was increased to £125. 156 (The amateurs also did their bit for the well-being of the side: at the November Cricket Subcommittee meeting John Warr and Bill Edrich suggested that the quality of the teas supplied in the players’ dressing- 155 It was the first of Gale’s 15 first-class centuries. 156 It had previously been £100. In 1955 Jack, the county’s leading professional batsman, was paid the maximum and Syd, in his last season, £80.