Michael Atherton slams Ollie Robinson after England lose their first Test series in the Bazball era

Former England cricketer turned renowned Journalist Michael Atherton has come up with a statement against right-arm seamer Ollie Robinson who replaced Mark Wood during the 4th Test against India in Ranchi where they lost by 5 wickets and squandered the opportunity to bring the 5-match Test series on level terms. Rohit Sharma’s side will now be heading to the 5th Test in full confidence and with nothing to lose, having claimed the series yesterday by 3-1.

It was not just Atherton, but almost everyone that watched the 4th Test right from day 1, felt Ollie Robinson had a mediocre performance with his bowling, which is his main strength. Surprisingly and out of nowhere and no one’s expectation, Robinson played out a crucial knock with the bat, scoring his maiden half-century.

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Michael Atherton bashes Ollie Robinson

Robinson’s 58 off 96 also saw him stitch a partnership of 102 runs with the only centurion from the 4th Test, Joe Root that helped England go from 245/7 to 353 all out. But when it was time for Robinson to shine with the new ball in the 2nd innings, he faltered and displayed a very ordinary performance.

The Kent-born lad is not known for his pace and is sort of a medium pacer. But most of the time, pace doesn’t always help you get wickets, line-length does and Ollie Robinson was mediocre in that department too. It might have agitated some people back in the UK and Michael Atherton well and truly showed him the mirror during a recent interview with Sky Sports Cricket.

“Ollie Robinson, I was really disappointed with him in this game. I felt that he bowled, his pace was pedestrian, and he was quite down on pace. Obviously scored that half-century, but dropped a catch.” – Atherton said via Sky Sports.

Michael Atherton also stated that Robinson is in dire need of some more game time with the red ball even if it requires him to go back and play first-class county cricket. “He looks like a bowler who needs a good run of game time now, not necessarily with England either.” – Atherton concluded.

Not necessarily because of Robinson but the English contingent was ahead of the Indians only in the first 2 mornings and after that it was India all over. With the way Ben Stokes’ side had batted in the 1st innings, it seemed as if they would post something over 250 as the target but none of the batsmen could figure out a way to curb India’s spin battery -Ravichandran Ashwin (5), Kuldeep Yadav (4) and Ravindra Jadeja (1).

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After Atherton, Nasser Hussain criticizes Robinson for his pace

Former England Nasser Hussain agreed with the point Atherton made but the former was specifically critical about Ollie Robinson’s pace which remained at 70-75 miles per hour in the 4th Test. Even during Ashes 2023 on home soil, the 30-year-old drew criticism for his lack of pace and Hussain suggested he show his skills more often than he does.

“Ollie Robinson, as we saw in Pakistan, is a very highly skillful bowler, even if there is not a lot on the pitch. He has those skills, but he needs to be playing to show those skills. He needs to be of a certain pace, he needs to be hitting the mid-eighties and not the high seventies.” – Nasser Hussain said via Sky Sports Cricket.

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