However, he was dismissed for only 2 runs, when he was caught by David Gower off the bowling of Bob Willis.
It wasn't until the age of 31 that he made his first-class cricket debut, picked to play against a Bob Willis led England XI.
The England Test cricketer and captain, Bob Willis, grew up in the village and learnt to play at several local village clubs, including Stoke D'Abernon cricket club, before his professional career in the 1970s and 80s
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In those days there were no sanctions against cricketers who visited South Africa, and Robins' teams included players of high quality, including such names as Bob Willis, Brian Close, Tony Greig and Trevor Chappell.
On his first tour overseas, on England's defence of the Ashes in Australia in 1982/83, he often struggled, was wayward in line and length, and was underbowled by captain, Bob Willis, until the crucial Fourth Test at Melbourne, a match England had to win if they had any hope of retaining the Ashes they won at home in 1981.