Lives in Cricket No 38 - Lionel Robinson

27 Robinson comes to Norfolk in the away match against Quidenham Parsonage, whose bowling attack was one of the strongest faced by Old Buckenham all season. The press greeted this triumph as it greeted every single one of Robinson’s deeds on the cricket pitch – with complete silence. The villagers who turned out in 1908 continued to form the nucleus of the team in the subsequent year with names such as R Turner, D Bowen, W Shaw, A Germany, G Gedge, W Groom and various members of the Loveday family all cropping up again and again in the Old Buckenham eleven. Although there would come a time when Lionel Robinson would begin to insinuate ‘his’ cricketers into the village side, very few of these appeared in 1909. The first to be sighted was the ex-Test player, Gregor MacGregor, who kept wicket against Quidenham Parsonage on 5 June, only a week after Robinson made his debut. One of Lionel’s cronies, Evelyn Metcalfe, who later earned fame writing for The Cricketer , also made a relatively early appearance on the scene 24 while Cyril Staples (who was barely of first-class status) appeared in the return match with Quidenham Parsonage three weeks later. Lionel also managed to find the occasional place for family and friends; his nephew, Lionel Frederick, made two appearances 25 while two members of the Baillieu family turned out against Long Stratton, presumably while making a social call on their business partner (frustratingly, both are given simply as ‘W Baillieu’), but it was only for the last match of the year that Lionel Robinson first flexed his cricketing muscles. The team which lost a two-day match to Dr E.F.Rose’s XI by an innings went by the name of ‘Mr L Robinson’s XI’ - the first time that a cricket team was so titled. The vast majority of the team were guests invited by the lord of the manor; however, Lionel had still to develop the habit of packing his team with top-quality cricketers. The only team- members with any first-class experience in his eleven were Maurice Jewell, who would go on to captain Worcestershire but who had made his first- class debut only a couple of months before this game; and Evelyn Metcalfe, whose two first-class games were in an earlier century. The rest of the side are merely names today. Perhaps the magnitude of the defeat set Robinson to pondering on the desirability of recruiting some ‘hired guns’, whether paid or merely entertained lavishly, that he might challenge the likes of the Quidenhams for those ‘bragging rights’. 24 Evelyn Metcalfe tells a tale of how he was discomforted when making his first appearance as a cricketer at Old Buckenham. He was staying with Lionel at Whitsuntide and his host suggested that he should take place in a game with the villagers. Metcalfe agreed, donned his I Zingari blazer and proceeded to the village green. Here he found himself in a line-up of 20 cricketers (including the ‘village idiot’ who was presumably the very same ‘Squibs’ who will be referred to below) as the carpenter and the blacksmith picked up sides. Much to Lionel’s glee, Metcalfe was the last man to be picked. When the carpenter was asked why he hadn’t selected the visitor, who would have been comfortably the most accomplished cricketer present he, replied: ‘I would sooner the devil I know than the devil I don’t, no matter what bright colours he may have on.’ This tale of cricket that was essentially light-hearted contrasts rather strongly with the serious nature of later cricket at Old Buckenham. 25 In one of the games played by both Lionel and his nephew, four wickets were credited simply to ‘Robinson’. Given that there is no evidence that Lionel bowled in any other match, it can be assumed that they were taken by Lionel Frederick.