Charles Walter Robinson (28 March 1892 – 22 May 1947) was a cricketer who played

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officiall ...

for

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from 1912 to 1915 and played for

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

in the days before New Zealand played

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Early career

Charles Robinson was a fast bowler – "the fastest bowler New Zealand had so far produced" according to Dan Reese – a hard-hitting lower-order batsman and a fine fieldsman. He took "a nice easy run of about twelve yards" to the wicket. He made his first-class debut for Wellington in 1911-12 at the age of 18, and after one more first-class match in 1912-13 he was selected to tour Australia with the New Zealand team in 1913-14, although in his two matches he had bowled only 173 balls and taken three wickets for 80. Batting at number eight, he had scored 14, 31 not out, 22 and 45 (top score in a losing side).

Playing for New Zealand

In the first match of the tour of Australia, Reese and

Don Sandman Donald McKay Sandman (3 November 1889 – 29 January 1973) was a cricketer who played first-class cricket for Canterbury from 1910 to 1927 and played several times for New Zealand in the days before New Zealand played Test cricket. Early career ...

dismissed

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

cheaply twice to win. In the other three state matches Robinson was the most successful bowler, and finished the tour with 14 wickets at an average of 28.28. Reese, his captain on the tour, said, "Robinson had a knee that would not stand up to a long, hard day on Australian wickets, and he had to be used sparingly, yet he got through a surprising amount of work. He was our best bowler in the big matches at Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide; his extra pace made him a better bowler than

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on Australian wickets." The manager, Syd Orchard, said Robinson was the side's best bowler, " akingwickets where others of the team were not so effective". He was one of only four New Zealanders who played in both matches against the visiting

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later that season, taking five wickets.

Later career

In a senior club match for Central at

Basin Reserve The Basin Reserve (commonly known as "The Basin") is a cricket ground in Wellington, New Zealand. It has been used for Test matches, and is the main home ground for the Wellington Firebirds first-class team. The Basin Reserve is the only cricke ...

in November 1914 Robinson scored 101 in only 50 minutes. He took his best first-class figures of 5 for 63 (followed by 3 for 83 in the second innings) for Wellington against Auckland in 1914-15. He finished the season with 19 wickets in three matches at 21.00. He was only 22, but they were his last first-class matches. He was the leading wicket-taker in Wellington club cricket in 1914-15, with 51 at 13.56. He served overseas with the 34th Reinforcements Canterbury Infantry Regiment, C Company, in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. Robinson worked in the Post and Telegraph Department. He died aged 55 in May 1947 after a short illness, just before he was due to retire. He was survived by a daughter and two sons. His wife Annie Winifred had died in March 1937.

References

External links

Charles Robinson at CricketArchive
{{DEFAULTSORT:Robinson, Charles 1892 births 1947 deaths New Zealand cricketers Pre-1930 New Zealand representative cricketers Wellington cricketers Cricketers from Wellington City New Zealand military personnel of World War I