Everyone at Middlesex Cricket is deeply saddened to hear of the death of former player, Chair and President of the Club, Robert Victor Charles Robins, or Charles as he was known to all, who passed away peacefully at Kingston Hospital last night, aged 88.
Born in Burnham in Buckinghamshire on 13 March 1935, Charles was the eldest son of former Middlesex and England cricketer Walter Robins and followed in his father’s footsteps by representing Middlesex both as a player and as an administrator.
Charles was educated at Eton College, where he excelled in cricket, playing for the College for several years, and as Captain in the 1953 season.
He joined Middlesex as a young man and made his professional debut for the Club aged just eighteen against Gloucestershire at Lord’s, alongside the likes of Jack Robertson, Don Bennett, Fred Titmus and Alan Moss.
This was the first of 44 first-class appearances he made for Middlesex, playing as a right-handed, leg-spinning all-rounder. He hit 712 first-class runs for the Club, including a highest score of 49, and picked up 73 first-class wickets at an average of 33.34, including best bowling figures in an innings of 7 for 78, taken against Cambridge University at Fenners in 1954.
His commitment to Middlesex Cricket far from ended when his playing career finished however, as having served for numerous years on the Club’s General Committee and in the role of Chair of the Cricket Committee throughout the hugely successful Brearley and Gatting eras, he became the Club’s Chair in 1994 and served a three-year term before later becoming the Club’s President between the years 2005 and 2007.
Charles was also the longest serving trustee on the Centenary Youth Trust, the Club's charity foundation, soon to become Middlesex in the Community, and worked tirelessly for many years in fundraising to help develop opportunities for young people to take up the game within Middlesex.
Charles was hugely popular with everyone at Middlesex Cricket, always had a wonderful smile on his face, and dedicated so much of his life to the Club. He will be fondly remembered and greatly missed by the many friends and members he leaves behind at the Club.
The thoughts and prayers of all at Middlesex Cricket are with Charles’ family and many friends at this saddest of times.
