Jim Robson - "Jungle"

Paul Ryan | August 04, 2023

Jim Robson, “Jungle” to all, has been involved in cricket in Sydney since he arrived from Goulburn back in 1974.

Jungle’s played cricket for University of NSW for 32 years, he was a NSW selector and for 16 years he was the manager of the SCG Indoor Cricket Centre. He also has two sons who can play the game.

Jungle played first grade cricket for UNSW from 1974 to 1996 scoring 8,567 runs at an average of 30.37 including 6 centuries and 45 half-centuries. He also took 186 wickets. In all grades Jungle scored 13,616 for UNSW.

Jim also plays Veterans Cricket and recently toured New Zealand with the NSW Over 60s team.

 

Welcome Jim,

Firstly, what year were you born?       

1956

Where did you go the high school?      

Goulburn High School

Where did you play your junior cricket?     

Played junior cricket initially for Wests Wollongong and moved to Goulburn when I was 12 years of age.

How old were you when you first played grade cricket in Sydney and what clubs did you play for?

I have only played for University of NSW in Sydney Grade Competition. I played 20 years in first grade debuting as an 18yr old in 1974. After playing 1st grade for 20 years I became a NSW Selector for 3 years. After this I returned to play 10 years of lower grades for Uni of NSW. This was very enjoyable, particularly as I got to play a few games with my sons. It was a very enjoyable 30 years of grade cricket.

How do you look back on your cricket career in Sydney?

Playing 20 years in first grade must have meant that I was a reasonable top order batter but I probably lacked the class to go to the next level. My best achievement was one year being runner up in most runs in the season just a few behind Steve Small. I bowled leg spin up until the age of 29 but could not get a bowl because our spinners were all better than me. These spinners left or retired together so I decided to bowl off spin as there were vacancies in our team for spinners. Naturally starting to bowl a totally different ball at such a late age meant my action was not particularly good and I could not get much turn. However, I became a regular, consistent, accurate defensive spinner for the next 9 years to add a new dimension to our team.

University of NSW was probably the leading club in Sydney in the late 1970s as we were in the First Grade finals in 4 years out of 6, winning two of the competitions. We also won the Club Championship, Poidevin Gray and lower grade comps in this period. We had many dominating wins and with a star studded opening bowling combination (Geoff “Henry” Lawson and Greg “Gulgong” Watson) and solid back up players, plus an outstanding fielding team we were very successful.

What’s been your most memorable moment in cricket?

There’s a few I’d like to mention

1.     Seeing my son Sam get a Test century for England one Saturday in 2014 at Headingly against Sri Lanka and then the following Saturday seeing my other son, Angus, get a century for Leicestershire against India in a 3 day match at Grace Rd, Leicester. 

2.     In 1971 as a 15 year old I played in the same team as my brother, Bill, and father, Ken. We won the final and I can still remember many of the deliveries bowled against me in this match. Cricket is like that. It was wonderful to win against the odds with my family.

3.     My two grand final wins in Sydney first grade in 1976/77 and 1980/81

4.     Having the main Cricket Pavilion in Goulburn named after my father (Ken Robson Pavilion)..

Jim, far left with his brother and sisters celebrate the naming of the "Ken Robson Pavilion" in Goulburn

Can you describe a funny moment or character from your playing days?

I was fortunate to Captain Australian Universities V England Test Team at Adelaide Oval in November 1979. The Australian Cricket Board thought our team was very weak and they called and said the game will only go ahead if England bats first.

I had to have a “pretend” toss with Mike Brearley and when they batted we got them out for only 194. Our leg spinner, from my club UNSW, Geoff Kirkwood took 5 for 39. He was the funniest guy I ever played with.

When interviewed by Henry Blofield at the end of Day 1 he told Blofield he only bowled “Average to average bad.” That became the headline in sport columns around the country.

Geoff also only wore red board shorts at night and did not take any long trousers to Adelaide even though we were there for a week. It was a great sight in the Adelaide restaurants. When we played Saturday/Sunday matches at The Village Green Geoff would sleep over on the Saturday night in the Pavilion at the ground.

Who were the best batsman you played against in Grade cricket during your career?

The best batsman I played against would surprise many but I felt Steve Smith in the early 1980s was very special. I remember one season he got three double hundreds. I was fortunate to play with Michael Slater for 2 seasons. I felt he was a magnificent player, particularly in the first half of his career, and doesn’t get the accolades he should. Coached in Wagga from the age of 8 by Warren Smith he was aggressive with a very sound technique.

Steve Smith

Who were the bowlers you admired most in terms of skill and competitive spirit in Grade cricket during your career?

The best two bowlers I faced were David Hourn because he spun it so far both ways, and Mick Pawley because of his classical action with small steps and a slow arm action.

When you came out to bat you walked quickly and with purpose. It seemed you couldn’t wait to get into the action, was that just natural or was there a thought process behind it?

I did walk quickly out to bat as I felt it important to let everyone know you weren’t nervous and were really keen to get into the “game”. I hate the way some modern players dawdle out to bat and then even worse…when dismissed they think they are so good they can’t believe they have got out and dawdle off.

UNSW won the First Grade Premiership in 1976/77 under the leadership of John Rogers who’d joined the club from St George. Over the years the player sin that team have always spoken very highly about John. What was it about his leadership, influence and the team that made the year so successful?

1970s was a great time for my club and an important part of this was due to the inspiring captaincy of John Rogers. He probably took the game more seriously than other grade captains and with a good, very young team under he became a mentor to everyone of that period. John was 13 years older than most in our team and having played for NSW had the respect from all of us. He loved a beer and a theory, and good or bad, this has rubbed off to many of us who played under him.

John Rogers - a leader

UNSW 1976/77 Premiership winning team

Your two boys Sam and Angus are making their mark in the game, Sam having played Test cricket for England. You must be very proud?

Opening in Tests and first class cricket in England is very tough and I feel Sam did reasonably well in his 7 Tests with a batting average of 30. Sam has played over 150 first class matches with nearly 10 000 first class runs.

Angus has played over 60 first class games and has over thirty first class 50s. Angus has just had an excellent season at Easts again and will hopefully get a NSW 2nd X1 game early next season and he can see where that takes him.

After retiring from Cricket did you stay involved in any capacity?

After teaching for many years I was fortunate to get the job as SCG Indoor Centre Manager for 16 years. It was a joy watching thousands bat in the centre all with different techniques and idiosyncrasies. Virat Kohli was the standout player for me in all this time and it will be interesting to follow him in the second half of his career.

After they demolished the Indoor Centre along with Allianz Stadium I began coaching at Sydney Grammar. Alan Campbell has set up a good program there and it is very different to what I experienced at Goulburn High in the early 1970S.

What advice would you offer a young 16 year old who has the ambition of playing cricket at the highest levels?

My motto for all players is “Anyone can be a good cricketer, it’s more important to be a good bloke”.