Lives in Cricet No 33 - Jack Robertson and Syd Brown

12 reason to remember the event much more sharply. Jack showed signs of cricketing ability at an early age and certainly didn’t lack for parental encouragement. Eventually he was sent to Arlington Park College, 7 where he would play in the first team for five years from the age of 12, captaining the side in the last two. He was an allrounder, but it was clear that batting was his stronger suit. The school’s location, overlooking Turnham Green, proved very convenient for all concerned. On occasions when the club’s midweek XI was short, a deputation, usually led by Robertson senior, would approach the school seeking approval for Robertson junior to leave early and fill the gap. Fortunately the headmaster, Thomas W.Williams, was sympathetic and usually willingly agreed. 8 Jack consequently gained valuable experience of good-class club cricket at a young age. Turnham Green were not unused to grooming future Middlesex and England stars: in the early years of the century another local lad, the great Patsy Hendren, had turned out for them. Jack made his debut for the club’s first team in 1932, against Chiswick, going in at 44 for four − his father had already been dismissed − and making ‘a really fine’ 35. He made a good impression: in the Brentford and Chiswick Times; ‘H.E.C.’ commenting, ‘in the technique of the game this youngster stood out well ahead of his seniors.’ He did, however, add a note of criticism: ‘he should be on his toes a bit more in the field’! As Jack went on to become a good allround fielder, taking 301 catches for Middlesex, a total exceeded at the time by only three others, as well as having a good throw, I think we can assume he took this advice to heart. Interestingly, that same season he also played against his future employers, the Royal Army Service Corps, at Feltham. 9 Jack’s irregular absences from school on sporting duties presumably didn’t affect his studies because Ian has in his possession a number of books presented to his father for academic achievement. These include Bridges, T.C. and Tiltman, H.H, More Heroes of Modern Adventure , George.G.Harrap, 1929, inscribed: ‘Prize for Excellent Work in Form VII awarded to J.D.B.Robertson: Summer Term 1931’. Things developed further for Jack the following year. He was a member of the school football team, apparently with considerable ball skills: for example, he scored two goals when they lost a seven-goal thriller to Temple College, the second achieved by ‘some clever dribbling’. Later in the season, however, against Castle Hill the local press reported that Robertson, ‘playing back for Arlington dribbled the ball right up the field 7 A private school established in 1890 which survived for some 50 years. According to an advertisement in the local press all pupils took ‘physical drill’ and among its benefits were ‘sports grounds for cricket and football’. 8 According to Jack’s Cricketer of the Year citation in Wisden for 1948, the headmaster, Mr T.Williams, was ‘an old Cambridge Rugby Blue’. I haven’t been able to confirmwhether he was. The only name that comes close is P.T.Williams (1888, 1889). As the 1889 Cambridge side included a Test cricketer, Sammy Woods, and a future one, Gregor MacGregor, this might explain a particular sympathy for the game. 9 In this match, ‘The home side’s innings closed at 6.45 pm, just in time for everyone to witness the arrival of the Graf Zeppelin which was landing at Hanworth Aerodrome adjoining the cricket ground.’ Beginnings: Jack