Ollie Robinson (AFP Image)
Clarke said the English bowler needs to concentrate on taking wickets.
Former Australian skipper Michael Clarke is the latest name to join the list of cricketers who have targeted Ollie Robinson. During the first Ashes Test, Robinson got involved in a verbal spat with the Australian opener Usman Khawaja. After dismissing Khawaja for 141 runs, the English bowler used some offensive phrases to celebrate the wicket. Robinson then again clashed with Khawaja during a drinks break on the final day of the Edgbaston Test. This led to backlash from several Australian fans, former cricketers and media outlets who deemed the English bowler’s actions to be incredibly unprofessional and completely unnecessary.
The moment was initially dismissed as “heat of the moment” but the incident became a matter of debate after Ollie Robinson decided to defend his actions in a press conference. He talked about how legends like Ricky Ponting were a part of similar spats in cricket history. Robinson went on to state that he did not really care about how the Australian media was perceiving his actions.
“He needs to shoosh. If England were fully fit you wouldn’t even get a game, Ollie. If Jofra Archer was playing or if Mark Wood had been playing and was fully fit, old mate – I don’t know what town he plays for – he’d be back playing cubbies,” said a fuming Michael Clarke. The former Aussie captain did not hold back at all as he lashed out at Ollie Robinson’s actions on the pitch.
Clarke went on to add how he did not understand what Robinson was trying to do. Had it been James Anderson instead of him, Clarke said he would have respected the stand since Anderson has 180 Test matches and 686 wickets under his belt.
Clarke said the English bowler needs to concentrate on taking wickets. He claimed once Robinson starts taking five-fors regularly he will be free to say whatever he wants.
Michael Clarke even went a step further saying that Ollie Robinson would have probably never even made the Edgbaston Test, had the England squad been completely fit. According to him, Ollie Robinson is not nearly as good as his English compatriots like Jofra Archer or Mark Wood.
After Robinson name-called Ricky Ponting to defend his on-field antics at Edgbaston, the Aussie great came back with a riposte. “If he is sitting back thinking about me, then no wonder he bowled like the way that he did in that game, if he’s worried about what I did 15 years ago,” said a rather disappointed Ricky Ponting in the ICC Review Podcast.
Ponting was not a fan of Ollie Robinson dragging his name into the spat as he found it to be completely unnecessary. He even slammed Ollie’s bowling stats saying that had the bowler not been obsessed with what the Aussie did fifteen years ago, he would have performed better.
Former Australian opener Mathew Hayden showed no mercy to Robinson either. He attacked the bowler’s pace saying that Robinson spoke too much for the speed he bowls at.
“The other bloke, he’s a forgettable cricketer. A fast bowler that is bowling 124 [kph] and he’s got a mouth from the south,” said Matthew Hayden.
While Ollie Robinson has certainly made a name for himself in the last two years with phenomenal Test performances against India and Pakistan, he simply has not earned enough respect from the Aussies, not yet.
