by Mayukh Ghosh

Bill O'Reilly: “Of all the cricket writers I have read and tried to read, Ray Robinson was the unrivalled leader of the band.”
Alan Davidson: "His books were masterpieces, the research was incredible. He was not just a writer; he was a friend of cricket.”

During World War II, while being the sub-editor for Daily Telegraph, Robinson started working on a book.
He named it Between Wickets.
By then he was a friend of Neville Cardus and he didn't hesitate to send the manuscript to him.
Cardus was so impressed that after reading it he sent it on to William Collins ( the man who wrote the letter to Robinson that is reproduced here).

This letter possibly helped him conceive his next two books. From The Boundary and Green Sprigs.
More books followed.
His classic work on Australia's cricket captains On Top Down Under won The Cricket Society Literary Award in 1977.

But it was Between Wickets which made him famous and well-known all over the cricketing world.He once said: “You know, Between Wickets was good to me. It enabled me to buy our house at Northbridge.”

While reviewing the book, RC Robertson-Glasgow wrote, "A book to be read; every line of it; and not to be lent without an I.O.U."

Indeed.
Not too many better cricket books have been written over all these years.

Ray Robinson was born July 8, 1905.