WA's Robinson an opener from the old school

Wes Robinson's tough Sheffield Shield century at the SCG is a victory for every back yard cricketer who has ever dreamt of being plucked from obscurity to raise his bat on the big occasion.

The left-hander has produced a tremendous victory for substance over style.

He is an old-fashioned fighter who values his wicket, doesn't care much for selectors and their ill-conceived advice about scoring rates and other nonsense and simply gets on with batting.

He has now played nine Sheffield Shield matches, faced at least 100 deliveries in each one of them and has a couple of centuries and several other impressive hands to his credit.

And he has been at his best when WA have found the going toughest in the past year or so.

There is nothing fussy about Robinson who just does his job, without ego or affectation.

Opening might be glamorous when Dave Warner or Virender Sehwag are in clobbering mode but it is mostly hard yakka.

To succeed as an opener, batsmen need a cast-iron technique and an implacable temperament.

They need the ability to play at an unplayable delivery and back up next ball as though nothing happened.

It is a talent Robinson has in spades.

He may not have received the rails run given to players perceived to have more talent but he has something far more important - a chest full of ticker and a game plan honed over years of hard work in club cricket.

Robinson had played a decade of adult cricket by the time he first appeared for WA.

He had overcome a frayed shoulder and the loss of his love of the game.

He moved from Wanneroo to Claremont-Nedlands, persuaded by his mate Tim MacDonald who is now with Tasmania, and under the eagle eye of former Test bowler and selector John Traicos, honed himself into a highly effective player.

Traicos is also an interesting character, a Test player with South Africa and Zimbabwe who produces sensible straight-talking on most cricket matters.

The WACA didn't want Traicos as a selector a couple of years ago, preferring the characters who have urged Robinson to become more attacking in one-day cricket.

Luckily for WA and himself, Robinson has enough sense to bat his own way and at his own pace.

It works for Simon Katich and Marcus North and it is no surprise that it works for Robinson.

In an era when most State players are spoon fed and not much required to fend or think for themselves, Robinson is a relic from a different age.

The Warriors are lucky that they have him.