Lives in Cricket No 38 - Lionel Robinson

46 wicket was more batsman-friendly on the second day but the Incogniti could still do no better than score 196, with Schwarz bringing his bag of wickets for the match to ten. This could still have proved a difficult target but the Harlequin, Wilfrid Lord, with an unbeaten 61 and the mysterious Barmey (who was, according to the Eastern Daily Press , an English Test player who wished to remain anonymous for reasons which were not made clear) with a rapid 57, hit in just half an hour, meant that Hall took a mere 89 minutes to knock off the runs. Barmey’s innings contained nine fours and he took 18 runs off one over from Gerald Campbell before having his wicket rearranged by Conran. A straightforward win by nine wickets (over two innings) over King’s Lynn was followed by a match against the Harrow Blues, which contained the performance that stood out as the most meritorious seen in any of the games played at Old Buckenham Hall during Lionel’s ownership. Reginald Popham and Rupert Minnett put on no less than 463 runs for Hall’s second wicket and, when the partnership was broken, it was due to a run out. Popham was dismissed for 226 whilst Minnett had accumulated an unbeaten 291 (his second giant score at Old Buckenham that season) when Archie called a halt to the slaughter at 563 for three. Unsurprisingly the Blues put up little resistance, making just 80 and 55 – in their second innings no fewer than 24 of the runs scored were extras and no batsman reached double figures. Harold Baumgartner took seven wickets in their first innings whilst Frank Tuff bagged seven of his own in their second knock. Touring Elevens In Norfolk There was now a hiatus in the cricket at Old Buckenham for a couple of weeks while Lionel busied himself in helping to organise the visit of the Australian tourists to Norwich (as referred to in the Introduction). Reports in the Eastern Daily Press of 3,000 seats being made available at prices of two shillings, 2s 6d and 5s (the latter guaranteeing a front row seat) with motors and bicycles incurring fees of 2s 6d and 3d respectively contrast all too starkly with the arrangements at Old Buckenham Hall, where free entry was available for all; however Lionel was very much richer than the county club. Unfortunately, this game was dogged by bad weather, like so many others in the wet summer of 1912. Norfolk secretary Charles Prior reached the ground early on what should have been the first day of the match, took one look at the conditions and telephoned Lionel to cancel the catering arrangements for lunch and to alert the amateur players staying at the Hall that they would not be required to play that day. At around 11am, the skipper of the England XI, Bernard Bosanquet, made use of his host Lionel’s phone to contact the Australian captain, Sid Gregory, who was staying at the Maid’s Head Hotel in Norwich, so that play could be officially called off for the day. The groundsman likened the appearance of the ground to Breydon Water, a rather bleak expanse of water near Great Yarmouth, and, to add to the desolation, the high wind had blown over many tents and marquees which were floating about forlornly. The Australians were not expecting there to be much play on the following Putting Old Buckenham on the cricketing map