Lives in Cricket No 38 - Lionel Robinson

10 Introduction (and poor village cricket at that) Lionel was hosting a succession of high- quality country house games building up to his crushing defeat of the South African tourists. Martin-Jenkins’ hypothesis is again shown to be inaccurate by the fact that Robinson had played a leading role in inviting the Australian tourists to Norfolk in 1912 for a match against an England XI at the County Ground at Lakenham 3 . It seems clear that Lionel was one of the financial guarantors for the Lakenham match and he definitely acted as host to several of the English amateurs who were selected to play in this fixture 4 . These were not the actions of a man whose life-long goal was being thwarted before his very eyes but those of a man playing a longer game, with his eyes on the chance to exercise real power. It is highly unlikely that Robinson would have regarded the visit to Old Buckenham a few days later of the South Africans as a consolation prize, as the view of Martin-Jenkins would suggest 5 . To attract any tourists to his private ground so early in its existence was, in reality, a great personal coup and Robinson’s own thoughts on this matter, which may have been mixed and complex, will remain forever unknown. This volume aims to chart in detail the rise of ‘Lionel Robinson’s XI’ beyond the game of 1912, on to the Great War, which very nearly brought Robinson’s ambitions to an end. Although the village club sprang back to life after the Great War, even being permitted to play on Robinson’s ground and thriving as never before, Robinson only just managed to keep top-quality cricket at Old Buckenham alive until the 1921 season when the Australian tourists visited Old Buckenham and Lionel finally got his main wish. Perhaps fittingly, he died not much more than a year afterwards; it is a little known fact that he had been suffering from cancer for several years and this might explain his inactivity after the war, relative to the busy programme of matches over which he presided between 1910 and 1914. Robinson’s interests outside of cricket will be dealt with, such as his extremely lucrative business career, the rebuilding of the estate and the development of the successful stud farm. The fate of his descendants will also be charted to show that, while Robinson himself might have been irredeemably ‘new money’, his family did find acceptance within England’s nobility. Finally the continued flourishing of cricket at Old Buckenham after Robinson’s death will be detailed. Given his almost complete lack of ability as a player and the short-lived, even ephemeral, existence of his cricket teams, the sceptic might ask why Robinson is worth remembering at all. The first five of his first-class matches are of little historical importance except to the fanatic (although that victory over the 1912 South Africans made for an impressive debut). 3 1912 was the year of the Triangular Tournament with both the South Africans and the Australian touring Britain. 4 Australian sources stress the importance of Lionel’s role in organising this match, one even stating that the: “England eleven...was got together by Mr Lionel Robinson” 5 Robinson was actually named as being one of the financial guarantors of the South African tour and, before the players officially began their season, was happy to host a weekend party which no fewer than eight of the South African squad attended. Also present was Claude Jennings, the vice-captain of the Australian team who had arrived in England earlier than his team-mates.