Cricketer Ollie Robinson To Return In Test Against West Indies

Ollie Robinson is an English professional cricketer representing the Sussex Country Cricket Club. He is a well-known right-arm fast-medium bowler and a right-handed batsman. Robinson made his first-class cricket debut in 2015 and played for the England cricket team for the first time in June 2021. In December last year, England’s bad Ashes tour Down Under became even worse on the second day of the third Test when he picked up a hamstring. The 28-year-old cricketer also missed last week’s series opener due to the return of the back spasm problem that took him out of the Ashes tour. However, Robinson looks clear of the problem during a recent voluntary training session at the Kensington Oval. Ollie Robinson’s return would strengthen the attack and improve England’s odds of winning.

Ollie Robinson Returns

England hopes to have the star cricketer available for the second Test against West Indies. As a result, they will not be calling up any additional cover despite interim coach Paul Collingwood saying that Mark Wood was unlikely to feature in Barbados due to an elbow impingement that restricted his involvement to just 17 overs in the Antigua Test. Scans were arranged for Wood after he picked up his injury while attempting to bowl into the nets. However, England is yet to rule him out of future involvement on their tour. Collingwood said that Wood was likelier to play in the Third Test in Granada, but it will all depend on what he is like in Barbados.

What To Expect…

Ollie Robinson will still need to repeat a long spell bowling out in the middle before a final decision is taken. However, Mark Wood’s elbow injury will undoubtedly necessitate at least a single chance to Joe Root’s attack. Robinson’s return would undoubtedly strengthen an attack that could only take seven wickets in Antigua. However, Wood’s absence will mean that England will not have an out-and-out-quick, except Saqib Mahmood, who is uncapped.

That said, Ollie Robinson’s proposed comeback and the anticipation of a true batting surface begs the question of whether there is enough variety at Root’s disposal. Therefore, Lanchasire’s Saqib Mahmood may be handed a Test debut. Mahmood has been in the England Test side for quite some time and has played both white-ball formats. Captain Joe Root praised his maturity and understanding of how to operate for a player who hasn’t played a lot of international cricket. According to Root, Mahmood has been impressive and brings a slightly different trajectory to the team, making him a great option. England can expect to see a lot of paces if he gets his debut since the Lancashire man can reportedly hit 90mph!

Big Decisions Loom

Paul Collingwood undoubtedly has a huge decision to make regarding who makes way between Craig Overton and Chris Woakes since both cricketers struggled to provide any genuine threat last week. Craig Overton and Robinson share a similar stature and release point. This may mean that Chris Woakes will get one more chance to change his disappointing overseas record. Mahmood has so far looked sharp in a training session that featured Jofra Archer. It has been almost a year since Archer’s last appearance for England due to reoccurring elbow stress fractures. However, Archer has linked up with the team to continue working on his rehabilitation with the hopes of making a sensational summer return.

In speaking to reporters in Antigua, Collingwood said that Wood had not bowled in the second innings, so his future involvement in the tour was unlikely but not completely impossible. He also added that Wood had recovered quite well with some anti-inflammatory medications. Still, the scan results would be the final determiner of whether he could be involved in the future or not. In addition, Collingwood said that Ollie looked pretty positive, and his recovery had been outstanding. To him, the backroom staff have done an excellent job helping Ollie recover.

Furthermore, Collingwood assessed his players’ efforts and graded them 10 out of 10 for playing on a docile pitch that was difficult to get 20 wickets on. This grading came after West Indies managed to secure a draw on the final afternoon after an all-out attack by his tea. England set the home side a target of 286 in 71 overs and nearly run away with a surprise win by reducing them to 67 for 4. However, Jason Holder and Nkrumah Bonner batted out 35.4 overs in partnerships to clinch a draw and keep the series tied with two games to play. Collingwood further added that his team was in a great place and desperate to win Test matches. According to him, taking 20 wickets on there would never be a walk in the park, and they had to be patient. He said they put themselves in an excellent position but lost some time with overs to the rain, which hindered their chances of winning. Paul Collingwood believes England was probably two wickets away from triumphing over West Indies’ batting but praised what he thought was a great performance in a positive week.

Collingwood has said that England will not be calling up back-up bowlers just yet, but it remains to be seen whether he can truly do without Liam Norwell and Essex’s Sam Cook, the next bowlers in line. Also, David Payne could provide a left-arm alternative. According to Collingwood, they have Mahmood and Matt Fisher, so bowling cover won’t be really necessary.