Career
Colchin lived in Bromley for several years and was associated with the local Bromley Cricket Club, which was prominent through the 1740s and declined after his death. In addition to his prowess as a single wicket player, Colchin played for Kent in major eleven-a-side matches including the famous match against All-England at the Artillery Ground in 1744. Colchin had strong associations with the Artillery Ground and is known to have promoted many matches there.
He is held to have been probably the finest all-round player of his day and was called "Long Robin" because he was so tall: "And Robin, from his size, surnamed the Long".
According to a contemporary article about Colchin in The Connoisseur (no 132, dated 1746): "his greatest excellence is cricket-playing, in which he is reckoned as good a bat as either of the Bennetts. And is at length arrived at the supreme dignity of being distinguished among his breathren of the wicket by the title of Long Robin".
