Lives in Cricket No 38 - Lionel Robinson

36 Robinson comes to Norfolk matters ornithological. These were written both under the name of W Groom and as ‘Squibs’ and, although they were not works of great literary merit, they were clearly not the work of an imbecile. One will be given in full, to give some idea of the level of erudition which was typical for ‘Squibs’: ‘The account of a robin’s nest in an old jam jar is interesting. Last year the head gardener at Old Buckenham showed me a wagtail’s nest in a well-head garden[?] vase between three marguerite daisies. The gardeners were watering frequently, but it made no difference as she hatched off her young ones. A robin also built its nest in an old glass bottle which lay upon a bank with its neck knocked off in some nettles – Yours truly, W Groom.’ A shrewd view might be that, whilst ‘Squibs’ might not have been the sharpest pencil in the box, he actively played on his image as ‘lovable idiot’ to secure a regular game of cricket and a free feed (it is not clear which he appreciated most, just that he was very keen on both). Alas, in the end Home reports that ‘his wits gave way and he died at quite an early age in an asylum’, being sorely missed in local cricketing circles.