the manner of his father. Early life Robins was born in Stafford on 3 June 1906. His father was Vivian Harry Robins (1880–1963), who played Minor Counties cricket for Staffordshire before the First World War as a leg-break bowler and right-handed batsman – characteristics which his son would also develop. In 1917 the family moved to London, where Walter Robins attended Highgate School. He 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. He also played club cricket for East Molesey. Attending Highgate from April 1921 until July 1925, Robins was four years in the football XI (captain for the last two), three years in the Eton Fives VI (captain for the last two) and was in the cricket first XI from 1922 to 1925, again being captain in his last two years; in 1925 he scored 816 runs for a batting average of 62.76, and took 60 wickets at a bowling average of 15.18. These figures included a score of 206 against Aldenham School; his all-round performances made him, according to Wisden, "one of the great schoolboy players of the year". In the summer of 1925, before entering Cambridge University, Robins made his debut in first-class cricket, when he appeared for Middlesex in the County Championship. The match was on 19 August, against Worcestershire. He was out for 0 in his only innings, and did not bowl. Playing career Cambridge University Robins was awarded a scholarship to Queens' College, Cambridge University, joining in October 1925; in the following summer he gained his cricket "blue" as a freshman. At this stage he was seen purely as a batsman; in the 1926 University match against Oxford he made scores of 37 and 21 not out and did not bowl. In the following year against Oxford his scores were 55 and 41, but this effort was passed in 1928, when he scored 53 and 101 not out, and also made an impact as a bowler, with 8 wickets in the match. His development as a bowler may have been assisted by a spell he underwent, in 1926, at the Aubrey Faulkner cricket school. His performance in the 1928 University match earned him a place in the Gentlemen's team, in the historic Gentlemen v. Players fixture at Lord's in June 1928, but here