George Luther (or Lutha) Robinson was a right-hand bat who also bowled leg breaks. He was born in Ruddington on 22 February 1873 but later lived in the North of the county where he worked as a bricklayer.
Robinson had a number of trials with Nottinghamshire between 1895 and 97; his performance for the Colts against Yorkshire Colts in 1896 – scoring 31 and 30 and taking 4-17 – earned him prompt promotion to the first XI. He made his First-Class debut v Derbyshire at Trent Bridge in May 1896 but could not repeat his success with the Colts. As a result, his First-Class career lasted just five matches, in which he scored 58 runs at 8.29 and a top score of 17, and bowled just nine overs, taking a single wicket for 24 runs.
He also played for the county against Staffordshire and Northamptonshire, not then First-Class counties, and is known to have had a professional engagement with Clitheroe in 1894.
Although his stay with Nottinghamshire was brief, his commitment to cricket was life-long, and beyond. When Robinson died at Conisborough, Yorkshire on 23 March 1930, he left instructions that he was to be buried in his cricket blazer and flannels in the colours of the Denaby and Cadeby Cricket Club, that he had captained for many years. The Sheffield Telegraph reported that 'On top of the coffin, which was borne by two old and two young cricketers, was his faded cricket cap. He had served as President of the South Yorkshire Cricket League and played football for Manchester City and Doncaster Rovers - where he was a regular scorer - in the 1890s.
George Luther Robinson was a member of the family firm of builders and joiners, E & GL Robinson of Denaby Main, Yorkshire. His nephew was Ellis Robinson who represented Yorkshire and Somerset, playing more than 300 First-Class games and taking more than 1,000 wickets.
October 2020
Nottinghamshire First-Class Number: 243