Ever since English pace bowler Ollie Robinson gave Usman Khawaja a huge send-off in the 2023 Ashes series, Aussie fans have been patiently waiting for him to play on local shores.
They will now get their chance to see Australia’s new ‘public enemy No.1’ – after Stuart Broad’s retirement – when Robinson has a stint in Sydney Premier Cricket ahead of this summer’s Ashes.
Robinson will play for Sydney University in a two-day match against Western Suburbs on November 8, with hopes of making a comeback to the Test XI.
He will no doubt be a target for local players, particularly given his antics in the last Ashes series.
Despite making 141 in the opening Test at Edgbaston, Robinson still sprayed Khawaja as he walked off the field, yelling: ‘F**k off, you f***ing p***k.’
Robinson later defended his reaction to taking the Aussie opener’s wicket.
Ollie Robinson comes down the pitch to give Usman Khawaja a send-off in the 2023 Ashes
Robinson and Khawaja squared off in England two years ago (pictured, during the first Test at Edgbaston)
‘I don’t really care how it is perceived, to be honest,’ he said.
‘It’s the Ashes, it’s professional sport. If you can’t handle that, what can you handle?
‘We’ve all seen Ricky Ponting (and) other Aussies do the same to us. Just because the shoe is on the other foot, it’s not received well.’
Soon after Robinson’s comments, Ponting took a swipe at him.
‘If he is sitting back thinking about me, then no wonder he bowled the way he did in that game, if he’s worried about what I did 15 years ago,’ Ponting told the ICC Review Podcast in 2023.
Former Australian opener Matthew Hayden also took a shot at Robinson, mainly his lack of pace, describing him as a ‘forgettable cricketer’.
‘He’s a fast bowler that is bowling 124km/h, and he’s got a mouth from the south,’ Hayden said.
While he has let his mouth run in the past, Robinson has backed it up on the field with 76 wickets at 22.92 from 20 Tests.
Robinson sprays Khawaja as he walks off the field at Edgbaston in 2023 after scoring a big hundred
Matthew Hayden and Ricky Ponting were both critical of Robinson’s behaviour
‘I haven’t lost too much sleep over what the Australians have said, to be honest,’ Robinson said.
‘A few of my mates have sent those comments to me, laughing and stuff, and I do enjoy that side of things. Sometimes I say these things to drive me forward.
‘But when I come out and say so many things, run my mouth a bit if you like, then I do have to expect a backlash when I don’t show up. When you say things and they don’t come off, you can look a bit silly, but all I can do is try to get it right.’
Off-field controversy has also followed Robinson, and he was suspended from international cricket in 2021 for historical racist and sexist tweets, which resurfaced during his Test debut.
He made the posts as a teenager in 2012 and 2013, and in a statement said he was ’embarrassed’ and ‘ashamed’ by what he posted on X.
In the tweets, he wrote that ‘my new Muslim friend is the bomb’ and in another said that ‘a lot of girls need to learn the art of class’.
In a third tweet, he posted that ‘females who play video games actually tend to have more sex than the girls who don’t’.
Robinson issued an apology eight years later in 2021.
Robinson was remorseful after being suspended for offensive tweets on X
‘I want to make it clear that I’m not racist and I’m not sexist,’ Robinson said.
‘I was thoughtless and irresponsible, and regardless of my state of mind at the time, my actions were inexcusable.
‘Since that period, I have matured as a person and fully regret the tweets.’
Robinson is looking to get some overs under his belt with Sydney University to put himself into the frame for an Ashes recall, and in the past, critics have hit out at his fitness levels.
His conditioning came under scrutiny during the 2021/22 Ashes series, when his pace dropped notably in a match after suffering a back spasm.
Robinson’s decline in pace has been described as a ‘breakdown in trust’ with team management by former Test batsman Mark Butcher.
‘I think there’s been a breakdown in trust between him and the management,’ Butcher said on the Wisden Cricket Weekly podcast last year.
‘From what I’ve heard and what I think I know, the covenant of trust between those guys and the player has broken down almost irretrievably.’
England players to previously feature in Sydney grade cricket include Kevin Pietersen (Sydney University), Andrew Strauss (Sydney University and Mosman), Monty Panesar (Randwick-Petersham), Zak Crawley (Sydney), Ben Duckett (Parramatta) and Ollie Pope (Campbelltown-Camden).
