76 Test wickets, average of 22 – but will Robinson play for England again?

Ollie Robinson really ought to be taking the new ball in the Test match at Old Trafford this week. Not long ago he seemed the heir apparent to Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad: when they retired, he was going to be the leader of a refashioned attack. His numbers remain exceptional — he has 76 Test wickets at an average of 22.92, many of them those of top-order players — but he is out of the side and may never return.
While the Test is on, Robinson will be at Scarborough, helping Sussex to push to regain the First Division status they lost in 2015. Weather permitting, there will be a good crowd for a clash with promotion rivals Yorkshire as the championship resumes after a seven-week break, but the buzz will not match that of a Test.
Robinson will have to find an inner purpose, something he appears to have done pretty well this summer, even after conceding a record 43 runs in a no-ball-strewn over to Leicestershire’s Louis Kimber at Hove on June 26. Coming only days before England picked their squad for the West Indies Tests, the timing could not have been worse, though his fate was probably already sealed.
He has taken 27 wickets in seven championship matches and 16 in 13 games in the Vitality Blast, a competition he had not played in since 2021. His economy rate was excellent and he helped Sussex qualify for a home quarter-final against Lancashire on September 4.
He has just turned down offers of multi-year contracts from at least two other counties in favour of a one-year extension with Sussex, and despite his form in the Blast is more interested in regaining his Test place than pursuing franchise opportunities.
Robinson’s problems are not really about cricket skills. He stands 6ft 5in, has a high release point and moves the ball off the seam. He knows how to work batsmen out. What he has been less adept at is presenting the physical robustness to sustain his pace into second and third spells, and transmitting his deep-seated desire to play for England.
Back issues have forced him to miss some Tests and break down during others, including his most recent outings at Headingley last summer and in India in February. In neither game did he contribute a wicket.
Paul Farbrace, Sussex’s head coach, says that Robinson’s poor showing in India may have been linked to a lack of cricket: “Whatever Brendon [McCullum], Ben [Stokes] and Rob Key think about him is their choice. If he’s not what they want, he’s got to get on with it, [but] his record suggests that he’s a decent Test bowler.
“They’ve been pretty clear. They want more pace, more consistency. They were obviously disappointed with his performance in India in the Test he played. In fairness to him, going into that Test he hadn’t bowled since July. He couldn’t bowl for us at the end of last season because he had a finger injury. I wasn’t surprised he got left out [against West Indies]. They wanted him to go away and prove he wants to play Test cricket.”
Farbrace is Robinson’s step-father and has known him since he was at the Kent academy aged 15. Farbrace believes he knows how to handle him. “He’s a single-minded bloke who sticks to his guns. Maybe at times hasn’t always worked as hard as he could have done.
“Maybe Brendon and Ben think by not picking him it’s going to give him a kick up the backside. I found it best to give him responsibility — involve him in everything, our strategy, our plans. He’s got a good cricket brain and he’s responded very well to that. He’s one of those guys that, if you give him an inch, he might take a mile. You’ve just got to be on him, keep driving him forward.
“As soon as he crosses the line, he wants to win and the criticism in India about him maybe not wanting to be out there, he took that quite badly. It might be that he’s done things around the England camp that they’re not happy with. He was disappointed not to be selected and took a couple of days to get over that. The more he’s bowled the better he’s been. He’s injury free, he’s bowled a lot of overs.
“His first couple of games, you wouldn’t have picked him to play for England. He hadn’t hit his straps, he wasn’t in rhythm. He was on a play-game miss-game prep at the start. It was no surprise that once he started bowling back-to-back games he started to look like the bowler he is.
“For me, the pace thing isn’t a big issue. He’s been excellent for us and he puts in. He’s been to practice regularly, he’s training regularly, he’s probably as fit as he’s been.”
Broad, speaking at an event on behalf of Sage, which champions UK small businesses, said that Robinson had to take his chance when he got it. “Ultimately at this level, if you get the opportunity, you have to front up with the attitude and character your captain and coach want. When you’re wearing the England shirt, you have other players around you wanting to out-hunger you, out-drive you, out-do you for that shirt.
“I’d never allow a 21-year-old to come in and have more enthusiasm or drive than me. I think they [England] are just challenging Robbo, to say there are other bowlers around wanting this position, it was yours for the taking, you didn’t necessarily grab it. The carrot is still there, but you need to show us you are the one.”
Next month’s round of central contracts could bring more disappointment, with Robinson among several on one-year deals unlikely to receive renewals; he has played only once for England during his present contract. Wisely, Robinson is keeping his own counsel, probably under instruction. His navel-gazing podcasts with Mia Baker, his girlfriend and golf influencer, have fallen silent, as have his spats with former players such as Australia’s Matthew Hayden, who accused him of bowling “124kph nude nuts” and being a “mouth from the south”.
Robinson is a highly skilful bowler and were he not to play for England again it would be a terrible waste. As Farbrace added: “His record suggests he’s capable of taking wickets in all conditions. He’s adamant he wants to play Test match cricket.”