New “public enemy number one” Ollie Robinson has opened up on the response to his fiery Usman Khawaja send-off whereas sending Australia a warning forward of the second Test.
Writing in an unique column for Wisden, Robinson admitted he “got caught up in the moment” when delivering an expletive-ridden spray at Khawaja after dismissing the Australian batter.
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There was vital backlash to Robinson’s actions, with Matthew Hayden describing him as a “forgettable cricketer” whereas Ricky Ponting known as the quick bowler a “slow learner”.
Robinson although wrote within the Wisden column that it didn’t daybreak on him that the Khawaja send-off can be such a giant deal till he checked his cellphone after leaving the pitch.
“I didn’t realise the Ussie send-off was such a big thing until I got off the pitch to find my phone blowing up with mates texting me and it all going off,” Robinson wrote.
“I just got caught up in the moment. I was desperate for a wicket; I hadn’t bowled that well in the first innings, I’d had that slip in my second over and lost a bit of confidence, and then I was trying to feel my way back in a little bit, having not played much for a while.
“And obviously Ussie was the big wicket, he was playing beautifully. It was nothing against Ussie, it was just one of those things, I got caught up in the moment and let myself go.
“We’ve all seen it with Jimmy [Anderson], Broady, [Glenn] McGrath, Brett Lee. All the bowlers do it when they’re fired up and trying to get a wicket for their team.”
Robinson revealed that he later went to apologise to Khawaja, who had a easy message for his England rival and that the pair are “all good” now.
“I spoke to Ussie after as well and we were all good,” wrote Robinson.
“He was just like, “Mate, just be careful what you say.” It was nothing towards him and we had chat. He’s a pleasant man and I’ve all the time gotten on properly with him, having performed towards him a number of occasions.”
Robinson, in the meantime, echoed the feelings of England captain Ben Stokes who mentioned he was “devastated and proud” within the wake of the group’s first Test defeat to Australia.
While it could not have resulted in a win, Stokes was adamant that it was at the least an ethical victory of kinds for England given the present they placed on in entrance of a close to sellout Edgbaston crowd.
“We are not a results-driven team, but we are absolutely devastated,” Stokes mentioned.
“The lads are in pieces up there. But if that’s not attracting people to the game we love then I don’t know what will. In terms of what we put into this week, taking the game on from ball one, it would have been easy to play it a bit safer but we didn’t do that, not one individual. That’s something I’ve very proud of.”
Robinson made the same argument in his column for Wisden but in addition despatched the Australians a warning, claiming they should modify their defensive method forward of the second Test.
“Obviously it was gutting to come out on the losing side. Trust me, I hate losing. That night in the dressing room I sat for five full minutes with my cap over my head and felt immensely disappointed,” Robinson wrote.
“Baz [Brendon McCullum] spoke first. He always goes first when we lose. He just said, ‘Lads, I’m immensely proud of the efforts that you’ve put in, we’ve made the game what it was. We were so close to pulling off an unbelievable victory. We played all the cricket in the game. If it wasn’t for us, the Australians wouldn’t have even had a chance to win.’
“And then the dust settles, and you’re reminded again of the bigger picture. It’s about more than just winning a Test match. Because at the end of the day, stats are forgotten. It’s more than that. We’re trying to create memories and be that team that everyone still speaks about in 20-30 years’ time.
“We were surprised by how defensive Australia were and how unwilling they were to go toe-to-toe with us. Obviously it’s worked for them this Test match. But we feel that with the way they’re playing at the moment, a pitch with a bit more movement would benefit us hugely. Baz said it after the game, ‘It feels like we’ve won, lads’. We’ve entertained the world, and we’ve put the Aussies on the back foot. For him to say that after a loss is quite significant for us.”
Robinson went on to write down that if there may be “any movement” within the pitch at Lord’s, England shall be in place to bounce again ought to Australia proceed its defensive ways.
“We were surprised to see Australia so defensive from ball one,” the quick bowler wrote.
“You just don’t see the Australians cautious and on the back foot like that. As soon as we saw the field for that first over, we felt like we had a hold on them. And then came that first shot from Zak Crawley. Broady [Stuart Broad] said it’s his favourite ever Ashes moment. The noise, the sound, the crowd, it was just amazing to witness, and the roar in the dressing room was so loud, you’d have thought we’d won the series already.
“We felt like we had to move the game on to give ourselves time to try and bowl Australia out. But let’s be honest, even if the pitch had done a bit more, we would have played the same way. We will always take the aggressive option. And that’s what we saw over those five days on a pretty docile wicket.
“I think most teams in the world would have just settled for the draw and moved down. But we want to capture the imaginations of people. We want kids to grow up wanting to play Test cricket for England. I saw there were record viewing numbers for the match, which is pretty special, and shows that we’re going on the right lines.
“Of course it sounds weird because they won it, but I think if they’re honest, Australia will look at themselves and realise they need to change their approach to keep up with how we’re going to play. If there’s any movement in the pitch at Lord’s, the way we’re playing compared to them is going to benefit us hugely.”
Originally printed as ‘They need to change to keep up’: Ollie Robinson doubles down in beautiful Ashes declare
Source: www.news.com.au
