Robin David Jackman was an English cricketer, who played in four Test matches and 15 One Day Internationals for the England cricket team between 1974 and 1983.
23 Facts About Robin Jackman
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Robin Jackman was a seam bowler and useful tail-end batsman.
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Robin Jackman's father pulled him out of school at the age of 17, for he saw a future for his son as a professional cricketer.
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The young Robin Jackman applied for a trial at Surrey and joined the club in 1964.
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Robin Jackman made his first-class debut in 1966 against Cambridge University and picked up three wickets in the first over of the second innings.
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Robin Jackman became a regular fixture in the Surrey first team during the 1968 season and was awarded a county cap in 1970.
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Robin Jackman became known for his wholehearted effort, his long, trundling run-up and side-on delivery action, and for his theatrically fierce and loud appealing for wickets.
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Robin Jackman was given the occasional outing by England in one-day internationals from 1974, but Geoff Arnold, Bob Willis, Chris Old and others kept him out of the Test side.
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Robin Jackman's performances provoked regular calls for his inclusion in the England Test team, given that he was way ahead of any other seamer in English cricket and was thoroughly deserving of being one of Wisden's five Cricketers of the Year in the following spring's Almanack.
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However, when Bob Willis had to withdraw from the tour with an injury after the first Test, Robin Jackman was called up as his replacement and flew to Guyana to join the England squad for the second Test in Georgetown.
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Robin Jackman had, in fact, warned the TCCB of his connections when he was put on the reserve list for the tour, but was told that it would not be a problem.
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Robin Jackman appeared in the final Test as well and then had to wait just over a year before gaining two further outings, both against Pakistan, finishing with 14 wickets from four Test appearances.
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Robin Jackman was then offered a coaching position in South Africa and he and his wife decided to relocate there permanently.
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Robin Jackman later moved into broadcasting, and for many in South Africa he was 'the voice of cricket' during the transformative years in which the nation moved back into the international arena after so long in international isolation because of the apartheid regime.
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Robin Jackman's voice sounded more gravelly but no less distinguished after he was treated for cancerous tumours on his vocal cords in 2012.
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Robin Jackman then became a TV commentator on various international cricket tournaments; latterly, he was on the commentary team for the Indian Premier League.
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Robin Jackman did regular commentary for the South Africa-based pay-television channel SuperSport.
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Bateman added "a magnificent trier with a theatrical appeal, Robin Jackman was a fine county fast-medium bowler who finally had his England chance".
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Robin Jackman had terrific ability too, which is reflected in his superb career figures.
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Robin Jackman was unlucky not to have played in more Test matches but there were a lot of good quick bowlers around at the time.
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However, Robin Jackman had no obvious connection with the London district of Shoreditch.
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Robin Jackman met his future wife Yvonne when in South Africa in 1969.
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Robin Jackman died at his home in Cape Town on 25 December 2020, after lung and heart complications and testing positive for COVID-19 4 days earlier.