South Yorkshire Times May 16
Bat helps the Blind.
A cricket bat is helping to raise money for the blind. But the bat which hangs in the bar of the Talisman Hotel, Park road, Conisbrough is not just any old piece of wood.
On it are autographs for which any schoolboy would gladly give up his best catapult!
The signatures not only of the Hall of England and South Africa testing, but Yorkshire, Essex, Lancashire and Leicestershire County sides.
The bat was originally presented by the Royal National Institute for the Blind by a Leeds man, but now Mr Basil Robinson, manager of the Talisman is planning to raffle it off to raise money for the Institute funds.
“I’ve never heard of this being done locally before, although I believe it does happen at county matches,” commented Mr Robinson on Tuesday.
He added, “We started at the weekend selling off the official R.N.I.B.tickets until we have raised a decent figure.
County Player.
“Then I hope to invite one of the Yorkshire County players along to make the draw and present the bat,” said Mr Robinson. “I shall have to time it so that Yorkshire are playing locally and he’ll be able to get along.”
The Talisman already raises a fair amount of money for the R.N.I.B.from its collection boxes, but with extra special effort from customers and with the help of other Conisbrough licensees, Mr Robinson, who is chairman of the Doncaster Managers Section of the L.B.A. hopes to make this a “bumper” contribution.
Basil, of course, is a brother of Ellis P Robinson, the former Yorkshire and Somerset County player, and was himself a Doncaster League player.