Lives in Cricket No 38 - Lionel Robinson

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Stephen Musk was born in Norwich in 1961. Twelve years later his father suggested he cycle the four miles to the Norfolk County Ground at Lakenham. He has rarely missed a home day’s play since. Educated at the Norwich School and Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, he was awarded a doctorate in cell biology in 1987 and a career in scientific research beckoned. Finding London uncongenial, he secured a post at the Institute of Food Research in Norwich. Unfortunately, Stephen has always suffered from mental ill- health, his condition varying from the merely distressing to the downright disabling. In 1995 a particularly severe episode led to his retirement and for several years he was relatively inactive and reclusive. An article in the Cricket Statistician on the Minor Counties Championship scores project, which mentioned that no-one was covering Norfolk, awakened his interest. He called Tony Webb that night and duly became the Norfolk representative just in time to contribute to the inaugural 1895 book. Stephen became interested in Norfolk cricket beyond the project and finds research in Norwich library a welcome distraction from the everyday agonies that come with mental illness. He is the author of Michael Falcon: Norfolk’s Gentleman Cricketer (Lives in Cricket: 15) published in 2010. This volume on Lionel Robinson is a logical continuation of his interest in cricketing matters in Norfolk. However the undoubted highlight of his life was on 12 August 1978, when he was ‘plucked’ from the crowd at Lakenham as a substitute fielder for Norfolk against neighbouring rivals Suffolk. Although he had always been an appalling fielder, fortune smiled that Saturday, despite the murky light and drenching rain. He even had a favourable mention in the newspaper .