"Wasn't The Smartest Thing..." - Ollie Robinson Regrets Taking Shots At Ricky Ponting During Ashes 2023

England pacer Ollie Robinson rued taking shots at Australian great Ricky Ponting during the Ashes 2023. He said that mentioning the former Australian skipper in press-conference wasn’t the smartest thing that he did in his career. 

Ollie Robinson was one of the most talked about names during the Ashes 2023. He hogged the headlines with his antics during the series. He was criticized a lot when he gave an aggressive send-off to Usman Khawaja, who got out after scoring a big hundred. 

Ollie Robinson while talking about that send-off, made a brutal statement. He said that he didn’t do anything wrong and even Australians used to do the same, citing the example of former skipper Ricky Ponting. This triggered many people and saw pacer get a lot more criticism. 

After his statements, Ollie Robinson received a lot of criticism from Australian greats including Michael Clarke and Matthew Hayden. The pacer then was on the radar throughout the entire series and his performances too weren’t good. 

Ollie Robinson while talking about comments he made on Ricky Ponting, said that he found it funny when Australian people targeted him. While about the entire incident to ESPNCricinfo, he narrated: 

“Looking back, mentioning Ricky Ponting in a press conference wasn’t the smartest thing to do. But I’ve watched so much cricket, I’ve seen so many of them do the same thing to the opposition. I just thought it was so funny that they were then getting stuck into me for the same thing they used to do. 

“I  remember waking up that week and people were texting me saying, ‘Oh Matt Hayden’s said this, [Adam] Gilchrist said this, Fox Sports have said this.’ Every morning, someone else would come out of the woodwork and have their 20p. But I enjoy that sort of thing, I feel like it really motivates me.” 

You say something, someone snicks off for none – Ollie Robinson on his ‘three No.11s’ comment 

During that series, Ollie Robinson also made a comment on Australian tailenders. He said that the opposition had three No.11s’ in Nathan Lyon, Scott Boland, and Josh Hazlewood. However, the comment backfired for three pacers as Cummins and Lyon added 55 runs to take the team home. 

While talking about those comments, Ollie Robinson said that he doesn’t regret making those comments. He elaborated: 

“Even the No. 11s thing: you say something, someone snicks off for none and you look like a genius. Or they hit the winning runs and you look like a fool. But it’s one of those things – you take the risk. If it comes off, it comes off. If it doesn’t, you hold your hands up. I just felt like that press conference, it was the right thing to say at the time. That’s all you can do, really, is say what you feel at the time.”

Ollie Robinson will next be seen in action when England will take on India in the five-match Test series in India. The series between the teams will kick start from 25th January.