33 Facts About Walter Robins

Robert Walter Vivian Robins was an English cricketer and cricket administrator, who played for Cambridge University, Middlesex, and England.

Walter Robins captained both his county and his country; after the Second World War, he served several terms as a Test selector.

Walter Robins made his debut in first-class cricket, for Middlesex, in 1925.

Walter Robins captained Middlesex from 1935 to 1938, again after the war in 1946 and 1947, and for a final season in 1950.

Walter Robins was controversially involved in an unsuccessful attempt, in 1954, to replace the current England captain, Len Hutton, with the young and inexperienced David Sheppard.

Walter Robins was a strong advocate of "brighter cricket", to an extent that sometimes failed to recognise the realities of international cricket in the postwar era, and put him at odds with the players of a later generation.

Whatever his difficulties in coming to terms with the cricket of a later era, Walter Robins was widely recognised as one of the most dynamic cricketers of his time, a fact that was acknowledged in the tributes paid after his death, in 1968, by his former playing colleagues.

In 1917 the family moved to London, where Walter Robins attended Highgate School.

Walter Robins was coached at cricket first by his father, to whom he would later attribute much of his eventual success, and, at Highgate, by the former England player Albert Knight.

Walter Robins was out for 0 in his only innings, and did not bowl.

Walter Robins was awarded a scholarship to Queens' College, Cambridge, joining in October 1925; in the following summer he gained his cricket "blue" as a freshman.

Walter Robins twice performed hat-tricks: first against Leicestershire in 1929, and again against Somerset in 1937.

Walter Robins was recognised as a brilliant fieldsman, often in the covers but equally, in the deep field.

Walter Robins was one of Wisdens five "Cricketers of the Year" in 1930.

Walter Robins relinquished the captaincy at the end of the 1938 season, but resumed it in 1946 and 1947, after the Second World War, and in 1947 finally led Middlesex to the championship title.

Walter Robins took charge of the county again in 1950, after which, following a single appearance in 1951, he left the first-class county game.

Walter Robins did nothing of note in the match, and was not chosen again during the series.

Walter Robins was dropped for the remainder of the five-match series, although some critics thought it was a mistake to drop one whom they considered "the best of our young all-rounders".

However, Walter Robins remained in the selectors' minds, and was chosen for at least one Test in each of the subsequent summers except 1934, until 1937.

In 1948, when the Australians were again in England, Walter Robins was included in the Test Trial which preceded the series.

Walter Robins was unsuccessful in his only innings, and did not bowl; the captaincy remained with Norman Yardley.

Altogether, Walter Robins played in 19 Tests, scoring 612 runs for a batting average of 26.60, and taking 64 wickets for a bowling average of 27.46.

In March 1930 Walter Robins toured Argentina with Sir Julien Cahn's XI, playing in three representative matches.

Walter Robins toured again with Cahn's team, to Canada, Bermuda and the United States in 1933.

Walter Robins's replacement was the Gloucestershire batsman George Emmett, who scored 10 and 0 in the match; Hutton was speedily reinstated.

Walter Robins was willing to go if chosen and, in a demonstration of his current form, scored a century in the Gentlemen v Players fixture.

When England toured the West Indies early in 1960, under the captaincy of Peter May, Walter Robins was appointed as tour manager.

Walter Robins played all his cricket as an amateur and, not being independently wealthy, had to find employment when he left Cambridge in 1928 without taking a degree.

Walter Robins went on to become Managing Director and later Chairman.

Walter Robins played cricket when he could, and in 1943, in a two-day match at Lord's, captained an England XI against a Dominions XI led by the Australian Keith Carmody.

Various members of the Walter Robins family contributed to cricket, for Middlesex and elsewhere.

Walter Robins's grandson Charles William Veral was born on 1965 and played for Middlesex 2nd XI in 1983.

Walter Robins died from bronchopneumonia, aged 62, on 12 December 1968.