John Robinson (cricketer, born 1868)

John Sandford Robinson (5 February 1868 – 21 April 1898) was an English cricketer. He played for Cambridge University, the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and Nottinghamshire between 1888 and 1896.[1] He was born at Arnold, Nottinghamshire and died at Worksop, also in Nottinghamshire. He was known during his lifetime as "Sandford Robinson" as his father was called "John Robinson".[2]

John Robinson
Personal information
Full nameJohn Sandford Robinson
Born(1868-02-05)5 February 1868
Arnold, Nottinghamshire, England
Died21 April 1898(1898-04-21) (aged 30)
Worksop Manor, England
BattingRight-handed
RoleWicketkeeper
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
1888Cambridge University
1888–1896Nottinghamshire
Career statistics
Competition FC
Matches 48
Runs scored 751
Batting average 11.04
100s/50s 0/2
Top score 72
Balls bowled 15
Wickets –
Bowling average –
5 wickets in innings –
10 wickets in match –
Best bowling 0/3
Catches/stumpings 41/3
Source: Cricinfo, 4 August 2013

Robinson's father founded the successful Home Brewery in Daybrook, Arnold in 1875, later acquired Worksop Manor and was knighted in 1905; Sandford Robinson was sent to Harrow School and then he went to Trinity College, Cambridge.[3] As a cricketer, he was a right-handed batsman and an occasional wicketkeeper, but neither at school nor at university did he make much impression: at Harrow he did not play in the grand set-piece cricket matches against the other major public schools, though he did appear in a 12-a-side match with the MCC in 1886.[4] At Cambridge, he played in two trial games but was given only one chance in the first team: a match against the Gentlemen of England in which he opened the batting, scored 7 and 1, and took a catch in each innings.[5] He did no better in a game for Nottinghamshire later in that season and in single matches in both 1889 and 1890 against Cambridge University – playing for an opposing team was a frequent ploy used by Cambridge when they wanted to try a cricketer out, but in Robinson's case it led to no further first-team appearances.[6]

Robinson graduated from Cambridge University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1890.[3] In 1891 and 1892, he played first-class cricket fairly regularly for Nottinghamshire, captaining the team on occasion, and for some amateur teams, though only in 1892 did he have any success: his two first-class scores of more than 50 both came in this season.[6] His best innings was a score of 72 in the Nottinghamshire game against Middlesex when he put on 161 for the fifth wicket with Arthur Shrewsbury, who made 212.[7] At the end of the 1892 English cricket season he joined Lord Hawke's XI cricket team in Ceylon and India in 1892–93, where he played in a single first-class match; he did not then appear at all in first-class cricket in 1893.[6] He reappeared in Nottinghamshire matches in 1894 and occasionally kept wicket that season, and at the end of it he went on a second tour, this time with Lord Hawke to North America, where he played in two first-class cricket matches.[6] He played occasionally in both 1895 and 1896 with no success.

Robinson had other interests outside cricket, though he appears not to have had a career or profession. He was a captain in the Robin Hood Rifles, a volunteer army unit raised in Nottinghamshire and he also played football for Worksop Town F. C..[2] He was also engaged in field sports and a fall from his horse while hunting two weeks before he died was thought to have accelerated his death, which was unexpected.[2]

References
  1. "John Robinson". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 4 August 2013.
  2. "Obituary: Mr J. Sandford Robinson". Sheffield Daily Telegraph/British Newspaper Archive. Sheffield. 22 April 1898. p. 7.
  3. J. Venn and J. A. Venn. "Alumni Cantabrigienses: John Sandford Robinson". www.archive.org/Cambridge University Press. p. 332. Retrieved 5 February 2015.
  4. "Miscellaneous Matches Played by Sandford Robinson". www.cricketarchive.com. Retrieved 6 February 2015.
  5. "Scorecard: Cambridge University v Gentlemen of England". www.cricketarchive.com. 17 May 1888. Retrieved 6 February 2015.
  6. "Sandford Robinson". www.cricketarchive.com. Retrieved 7 February 2015.
  7. "Scorecard: Middlesex v Nottinghamshire". www.cricketarchive.com. 20 June 1892. Retrieved 7 February 2015.
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