Towards the end of the Ashes, England’s management made some pointed remarks about Ollie Robinson’s conditioning.
Needless to say, these comments were made in public, having been made in private first. Robinson had pulled up with a back spasm in the Fifth Test in Hobart. While it was hard to directly attribute the injury to his fitness and conditioning, England clearly felt he was not as professional in his approach to the game (in terms of training and nutrition) as he needed to be and the message was not getting through.
So keen were they to spell it out to Robinson that they were strongly considering leaving him out of this tour of the Caribbean.
As it happened, that management group lost their jobs and those placed in charge of selection took the opposite tack. They chose to back the coming man and leave out James Anderson and Stuart Broad, the veterans whose professional approach has been central to their extraordinary longevity.
It was a show of faith for Robinson, who has had an excellent start to his international career — when he has made it onto the field. His Test average is 21.2 (a very respectable 25.5 in the Ashes). That is despite him bowling a spell of off-spin in Adelaide and having a tendency to take an over to get into his spells, which he tires towards the end of.
With the Second Test starting here today, Robinson has had as much involvement as Anderson and Broad in this series. Having suffered another back spasm in the warm-up match, he missed the First Test. On Monday, he got through 10 overs at full intensity in training, raising hopes that he could play today. He and the medics felt he could.
But, for a few reasons, captain Joe Root and interim head coach Paul Collingwood felt they could not take the risk and have left him to get himself in peak condition for the Third Test in Grenada a week tomorrow. To that aim, he bowled another four overs yesterday.
They were wary because of Robinson’s breakdown in Hobart, and concern over being a bowler down for a third Test in a row (they had to do without Mark Wood in Antigua). At the heart of that are fears — and frustrations — that his fitness could lead to another injury. He missed three of the past four Tests (starting with a shoulder issue in Sydney), and picked up an injury in the other.
Word is that Robinson’s conditioning is beginning to improve — it can take time for that to show — and that he is beginning to understand what is required of him.
It is odd that it is taking this long, given he has been around the England set-up for a couple of years and, in Anderson and Broad, not to mention Chris Woakes and Ben Stokes, he has been surrounded by bowlers who understand the importance of taking care of their bodies.
Robinson arrived with a reputation for robustness and, in his first summer with England, played four Tests in a row, mirroring the durability he had shown for Sussex. But the step up in intensity has not been met with an improvement in work ethic, and he has flagged.
Robinson’s inability to get on the park means that leaving Anderson and Broad at home currently feels like a mistake. Let’s hope that another missed Test sees the penny drop, or his moment might pass.
