Ollie Robinson recalled by England for second Test against South Africa after seven-month absence
Ollie Robinson has been recalled to the England attack for Thursday’s second Test against South Africa, replacing Matthew Potts for his first appearance in seven months.
The Sussex seamer has not featured for his country since the final game of the Ashes in January due to a series of fitness problems, but has been given the nod at Emirates Old Trafford.
Robinson persuaded the selectors he was ready to go with a strong showing in the England Lions victory over the tourists in Chelmsford earlier this month, with Robinson picking up match figures of five wickets for 105 runs.
Ollie Robinson has been recalled to the England side for the second test with South Africa
Under pressure batsman Zak Crawley has retained his place despite his poor form this year
Durham seamer Potts drops out after struggling for rhythm in last week’s innings defeat at Lord’s.
That is the only change to the XI, with openers Zak Crawley and Alex Lees retained despite lacking major runs, with Kent batsman Crawley averaging just 16.40 so far for England this summer.
Robinson broke onto the scene last summer and excelled against New Zealand and India, while he was arguably England’s finest bowler in their dismal Ashes series defeat.
In nine tests he has 39 wickets at an average of 21.28, although he has struggled with injury since the Ashes, mainly to do with back problems.
England’s bowling coach Jon Lewis also publicly questioned his professionalism and fitness after he limped off during the final Ashes test in Hobart.
Brendon McCullum’s side are looking to bounce back after last week’s innings defeat at Lord’s
South Africa, who are top of the World Test Championship standings, thrashed England
Along with serious dental work, contracting Covid and suffering with food poisoning, it is obvious that the seam bowler has had wretched luck with injuries and illnesses this year.
However, after returning to fitness for Sussex, he took nine wickets against Nottinghamshire in a County Championship game, which included the dismissals of England Test hopefuls Ben Duckett, Haseeb Hameed and Joe Clarke, before he excelled for the Lions with England head coach Brendon McCullum watching on.
England skipper Ben Stokes explained that Robinson’s height and ability to extract lift from the pitch was a decisive factor in his comeback and praised his Durham team-mate Potts for a mature response to being left out.
He said: ‘When you look at what Ollie possesses as a bowler, one of his real key assets is how much extra bounce he gets compared to other bowlers in our squad.
‘We think here at Old Trafford, with it being a slightly quicker wicket than other grounds we play at, it obviously offers a lot more bounce. We obviously pick the team we think is going to enable us to win the Test.
Ben Stokes said the extra bounce Robinson gets off the pitch was a key factor in his comeback
‘It’s very tough for Matty to miss out, but what he’s done in the five games that he’s played is he’s taken himself from a county cricketer with a lot of promise and really announced himself on the big stage.
‘We’ve got to give him a lot of credit, to handle the decision so professionally at such a young age is a real indication of where we’re at at the moment as a team.
‘The selection was based around what we thought was the best bowling attack to suit this particular ground and he completely understood that.
‘For a 23-year-old to understand the bigger picture of what we’re trying to achieve here and not be throwing his toys out the pram was honestly something that I think shouldn’t be overlooked.’
After being recalled following his long hiatus, England will hope Robinson, who was named one of Wisden’s five cricketers of the year, will spur them on at Old Trafford as they look to bounce back from last week’s drab defeat in London.
