chaired the panel. As a selector in 1948, Robins was involved in two controversial decisions: the dropping of Hutton for the third Test of the 1948 series against Australia, and the omission of Doug Wright from the fourth Test of the same series. Hutton was dropped on the grounds that he had displayed deficiencies against the pace of the Australian bowlers Ray Lindwall and Keith Miller. His replacement was the Gloucestershire batsman George Emmett, who scored 10 and 0 in the match; Hutton was speedily reinstated. Wright's omission from the Leeds Test, which deprived England of the services of their leading spinner probably, in the view of the cricket historian Simon Wilde, cost them victory in the match. In 1954, Robins promoted the idea that for the forthcoming 1954–55 tour of Australia, Hutton, who had been appointed two years earlier as England's first professional captain in the 20th century, should be replaced by David Sheppard, his deputy in two Tests against the 1954 Pakistan side when Hutton was unwell. The ostensible reason given was to enable Hutton to concentrate on his batting, though some saw the move as reflecting the continuing antagonism of the old cricketing "establishment" to the advent of a professional captain. The matter was resolved in Hutton's favour, and he duly led the side to victory in Australia. As chairman from 1962, Robins let it be known that he favoured positive play: "Play aggressively at all times; otherwise you will not be chosen for England". Wisden records that, in terms of England's results during this period, this ultimatum had limited effect, though "at least it relieved Test cricket of some of the stagnation which threatened its popularity at the time". In 1962, Robins again raised the prospect of Sheppard's captaincy, in relation to the 1962–63 Australian tour. At this stage Sheppard, by now an ordained clergyman in charge of the Mayflower Centre in London's Docklands, had not played Test cricket for five years. He was, however, willing to go if chosen and, in a demonstration of his current form, scored a century in the Gentlemen v. Players fixture. Despite this, and Robins's advocacy, the captaincy went to Ted Dexter. Robins's selectorial approach did not impress all of his fellow-selectors. Alec Bedser, in an interview with Frank Keating many years later, remembered: "We would meet at his flat on a Sunday morning. He never really watched any cricket.