On this day – 20 years ago, in 1999 – Tim Robinson’s stellar Nottinghamshire career came to an end.
Over 22 seasons as a first team player at Notts – including eight years as Captain – Tim made 374 first-class appearances and hit 24,439 runs at an average of 42.57, including 55 centuries.
He had also played 368 List A matches for the county, scoring 11,237 runs at an average of 35.33.
Tim’s form in domestic cricket was rewarded with 29 Test appearances for England, during which he made four centuries and scored 1,601 runs, he also played in 26 ODIs and was a ‘Wisden Cricketer of the Year’ in 1986.
Although Robinson will always be remembered as one of the greatest Nottinghamshire batsmen, his final game for the county – 20 years ago today (on 18 September 1999) – was ironically one he’d choose to forget.
Essex came to Trent Bridge facing the threat of joining Notts in the lower tier of the following season’s new two-division County Championship.
Led by Captain Jason Gallian’s 118 and ably supported by 76 from Guy Welton and 66 from the outgoing former skipper, Notts closed on 349 before bowling out the visitors for just 188.
Gallian enforced the follow on but Essex did considerably better second time around, eventually declaring on 432 for 7 with Captain Nasser Hussain the top-scorer on 143 and Peter Pritchard hitting 110.
This left Notts needing to score 272 runs in a minimum of 51 overs.
Openers Welton and Usman Afzaal departed without scoring, and – coming in at number four – they were soon joined back in the pavilion by Robinson.
Batting at second wicket down, the Notts stalwart had finished his career with a four-ball duck, bowled by Ronnie Irani without offering a shot.
At this stage Notts had lost three wickets in ten balls without troubling the scorers and their final score of 151 gave Essex an unlikely 120-run victory.
Under the headline “Tim’s sad ending”, the Nottingham Evening Post reported that “Robinson was given a standing ovation as he walked off, but it was a sorry way to end such a fine career.”
Although he had trained as an accountant, Tim turned his attention to umpiring once his playing days were over.
Having made his first-class umpiring debut in 2002 – coincidentally in a fixture involving Essex – Tim now travels the world as a respected match official.
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