Lives in Cricet No 33 - Jack Robertson and Syd Brown

127 glamour, camaraderie, green fields and structure of the county game. The adjustment to normal life can be difficult. Perhaps Syd was similarly affected. Rob said that in later years he became more likely to ask customers to whom he took exception to leave. Having said that, the pub was packed on his last night before retirement as his regulars came along to give him a good send-off. Like many cricketers Syd enjoyed a drink, and perhaps sometimes his proximity to it was too much of a temptation. In retrospect Pam and Rob thought that maybe a newsagent’s shop might have been a better career choice. On leaving the White Horse Syd and Pam moved a short distance to live in Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire. Syd’s main interest in retirement was in following sport. Rob remembers, with some bemusement, that he also became a great fan of the ice dancers Torvill and Dean! Perhaps as a former professional in a sport in which footwork was very important, he particularly admired the dazzling footwork of the Nottingham pair. Syd still kept in touch with Lord’s: a photograph in the Middlesex Review showed him in 1984 with, among others, John Dewes and Jack, at a cocktail party celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of Denis Compton and Bill Edrich joining the Lord’s groundstaff. Syd passed away at Mount Vernon Hospital, Northwood on 28 December 1987. He had experienced some health problems, including a minor stroke, during his retirement but, as he had been in reasonably good health at the time, his sudden death from a stroke at the age of 70 obviously came as a shock to Pam and Rob. The 1987 season was MCC’s bicentenary and as part of its celebrations the club had had crystal goblets struck and personally engraved for presentation to batsmen who had scored first-class double-centuries at Lord’s. Syd had, of course, achieved this feat against Somerset in 1951, and happily Pam and Rob were able to receive his goblet the following year when they were well looked after by Middlesex in a box at Lord’s whilst, fittingly, they watched Syd’s old county beat Worcestershire in the NatWest Bank Trophy final. Rob recalls Angus Fraser bowling well, and Denis Compton enjoying himself. Pam died in November 2008 and like Syd was cremated at Breakspear Crematorium, Ruislip, Middlesex. * * * * * * * Jack outlived his erstwhile opening partner by some years, but that he did so is a tribute to his strong and resilient constitution and Joyce’s support and determination. During the 1982 Easter holidays he had been coaching with Leicestershire’s Maurice Hallam at Uppingham. He was staying with Hallam in Leicester and they had been out for a meal. During the night he woke up feeling ill. The doctor quickly diagnosed food poisoning and he was immediately taken to the Royal Infirmary. The next day Jack had an 18-hour operation. His continuous violent sickness had so damaged his oesophagus that it had to be removed. Joyce vividly described the drama of the situation in Chris Westcott’s Class of ’59 : The surgeon had been in America for three years studying the operation After Cricket