Lives in Cricket No 38 - Lionel Robinson

54 Further Successes At Old Buckenham to bat, to avoid aggravating a finger injury and so jeopardising his chance of playing in the Varsity match. However Kidd, now batting at number five, was then joined by Edward Baker and they, like Robinson’s last pair, employed the ‘long handle’, adding 105 runs in 40 minutes. Opposing skipper Falcon went for 79 runs off his 11 overs and, at one point, Kidd and Baker hit 28 runs off nine deliveries. Eventually, Schwarz brought an end to the carnage and earned himself a five-wicket haul; Kidd was left stranded on 96. That rarity, an away game, followed, with a strong team being sent to ensure victory over R.T.Fellowes’ XI in the concluding match of that year’s Honingham Cricket Week. Bosanquet then reappeared with the second of the two elevens that he brought to Old Buckenham in 1913 and Robinson was treated to a rarity that he will not have relished at all – his side getting a sound thrashing. Bosanquet’s team batted consistently to make 293 and then shot out Hall for just 64. Following on, Hall did better, with Archie’s 108 helping them to a total of 246, but the visitors knocked off the runs without loss. How Lionel would have fumed! Following the scratching, for an unknown reason, of a game against the MCC, the season concluded with Old Buckenham Cricket Week, comprising of two three-day games. The first was a 12-a-side contest against the Oxford University Harlequins whilst the second was against J.R.Mason’s XI. The fixture against the Harlequins was highly unusual in that, although Robinson’s XI fielded a strong side containing six Test players, Lionel decided to play himself. This was only the third time he had taken the field that year; unlike Sir Julien Cahn he was reluctant to expose himself to ridicule by appearing in matches which were beyond him. For some reason this match proved to be an exception and was made even more noteworthy by the fact that he appears to have assumed the captaincy himself, ahead of both Archie and Johnny Douglas, once-and-future Test skippers. Robinson’s XII batted first and were saved by Leonard Moon who scored 61 batting at number eight before becoming one of four victims of Teddy Wynyard’s lobs. They eventually totalled 266, with skipper Lionel going in last and remaining proudly unbeaten with a single. Guy Napier then took six for 80 to restrict the Harlequins to 183. Disaster struck Robinson’s team at the start of their second innings as they were reduced to 21 for four; a belligerent half-century from Aubrey Faulkner helped to alleviate the damage until Archie came in at number seven. He proceeded to plunder 141 runs in just 123 minutes, adding 94 in just over 45 minutes with Moon and 80 in 37 minutes with Schwarz. His innings was described as ‘brilliant’ and bowling figures suffered as a result: Francis Stocks conceded 91 runs in just 15 overs whilst George Cartwright saw 73 runs taken off his 12.1 overs. Lionel was thus able to declare at 300 for ten without having to bat a second time himself. Following Archie’s innings it would have been a case of the swine chasing after the pearls. With a little application the Harlequins might have earned a draw but most of them batted poorly. The obvious exception was Bosanquet who launched an assault on the bowling to rival that of Archie. Batting at number five, he scored 108 in 110 minutes and was especially severe on the fast-medium