Lived Up To Expectation - Ollie Robinson Says He Loved Every Part Of His First Home Ashes

England pacer Ollie Robinson opened up about his experience of playing his first home Ashes series. He said that the five games were everything he thought about and all the moments he imagined he lived up to the expectations.

Ashes 2023 was one of the most competitive series in the recent past. Both England and Australia displayed a high-profile brand of cricket and gave immense entertainment to the fans. With the way the series panned out no team deserved to lose and hence 2-2 was the ideal result.

Almost every game of the series went down the wire and the scripted series was nothing but exceptional. England lost the first two games by the barest of margins but pressure brought the best out of them as they then staged the rollicking comeback to win the Headingley Test.

England dominated the Manchester Test but unfortunately, that was washed out due to rain. As a result, Australia retained the Ashes but with a lot of line, they headed into the final game with lots of positive attitude and came up with an inspired performance to win the game by 49 runs to level the series 2-2.

Ollie Robinson, who picked 10 wickets in the three games he played, said that the intensity of the series made even his friends, who don’t cricket, message him. He remarked that everything that he imagined came true. Writing in his column for Wisden, he explained:

“After watching the 2005 Ashes as a 13-year-old boy, it was everything I thought it was going to be. It lived up to every expectation I had and every moment that I imagined. I’ve had friends message me about the series who have never watched cricket before and they loved every bit of it. That’s part of the reason why we play – to put bums on seats and make kids want to grow up to be us.”

Ollie Robinson talked about his performances and said that the series was a good Test for his skills and fitness and he wants to improve more for the upcoming series against India. He added:

“I think this series has been another good learner about my skills and my body and I think India is going to be an even harder test. It’s about getting as fit and ready as I possibly can for that series. I just want to improve myself and be the best I can be between now and then.”

We stuck to our guns and came out even harder in a few games – Ollie Robinson On England’s performance

Ollie Robinson said that England should’ve won the series because they dominated but they are proud of the way they played especially after being 2-0 down in the series. He remarked:

“We felt like 2-2 helped the bitterness from Manchester a little bit but still, we felt like we dominated the series and probably should have won if we’re honest. But at the same time, Stokesy said how proud he was of the group and of how we were true to ourselves through the whole series. We went two-nil down against the number one team in the world, the world Test champions, and we stuck to our guns and came out even harder in a few games,” he concluded.