Lives in Cricket No 38 - Lionel Robinson

88 The death of Lionel Robinson and the fate of his cricket ground Robinson had often seemed to be unlucky with the weather and this match was more affected than many. The ground was reported to be in good condition but sufficient rain fell during the first day that a fresh wicket had to be cut and play extended until 7pm to make up for lost time. Having collapsed to 100 for seven, the Pilgrims recovered to close on 158 for no further loss. Unfortunately there was even more rain during the night and, when the next day brought both sunshine and wind, the inevitable result was to transform the wicket into a ‘sticky dog’ on which batting was highly problematic. After the tourists’ tail had wagged and lifted their score to 213, Robinson’s team were shot out for just 124. Only Gerald Hough, with an attacking 69, could do anything with the Pilgrims’ attack. When the Philadelphians went in again, they too floundered; only two men reached double figures as they stuttered to 98. Robert Fowler took full advantage of the conditions to return match figures of 11 for 106. There was only time remaining for Robinson’s XI to reach 51 for three before a draw was agreed at 6.40pm. The Eastern Daily Press was somewhat critical of the Americans, stating that the wicket was still sufficiently treacherous that they should have declared their second innings closed and given themselves more time to bowl out the home team. In their defence, it is not clear how much experience they had at playing on an English ‘sticky dog’. Whilst the 1921 season saw little high-quality cricket in Old Buckenham, the village club continued to play in the South Norfolk League with no little success; they reached the semi-final but had their dreams of glory rudely shattered when Garboldisham bundled them out for an embarrassing total of 20. Lionel permitted them to play most, if not all, their home games on his ground, with the most noteworthy performance of the season being Len Hart’s dismissal of five Thetford batsmen with five consecutive balls. Although Old Buckenham failed to reach the final of the league, Lionel again hosted that fixture and, when presenting the Cup to Garboldisham, he stated ‘how pleased he was to see the final played on his ground’. The following season took place under a cloud for it was now common knowledge that Robinson was terminally ill with cancer and unlikely to survive the summer. Activity of a cricketing nature at Old Buckenham centred almost entirely on the village club. Although a press strike affected coverage of local cricket in Norfolk and obscures historical research, it is clear that the local team was less successful than previously and they failed to reach the knock-out phase of the South Norfolk League. Only two other games appear to have taken place at the Hall ground that year; an unimportant match involving one of Len Hart’s eponymous elevens and Lionel’s final country house match, a two-day fixture against Australia House on 3 and 5 June. Although the home team was not notably strong (skipper George Wood, who also kept wicket, was the only ‘big’ name and space was found for several local cricketers, including John Brockbank, who made his usual ‘duck’s egg’), several players had some first-class experience and the side was far too strong for the visitors. Lionel’s last match was thus one of those overwhelming victories that he enjoyed so much. Australia House won the toss and chose to bat, but were rolled over