Ollie Robinson’s hopes of featuring in the England Test team in the upcoming series seems to be vanishing as he suffered another setback. The player had to withdraw from County Select XI to face New Zealand’s touring party at Chelmsford on May 26, having complained of stiffness in his back during the warm-up.
The 28-year-old, who made his debut in 2021, was named one of the five Wisden cricketers of the year for having remarkable numbers in Test cricket. He claimed seven wickets on the debut and quickly became one of England’s main seamers.
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He picked 28 wickets in his first home season at an average of 19.60 and followed it up with further 11 scalps in the Ashes at 25.54. However, his fitness had always been dodgy and became more concerning on the tour of Australia, where he had to miss the Sydney Test and suffered back spasm during the final Test at Hobart.
The seamer was selected for the three-Test tour against West Indies as the attack leader after controversial omissions of the veteran duo James Anderson and Stuart Broad. But Robinson suffered a recurring back spasm during the warm-up game and could not play any further part in the series.
In the ongoing County Championship season, he has had difficulty being on the field, first due to tooth infection and later with food poisoning. The player had better gametime in New Zealand’s tour match at Hove, where he bowled 18 overs.
The Englishman was already excluded from England’s squad for the first two Tests against the Kiwis, and his only chance of pushing for a Test recall in the third Test now comes down to one County Championship match against Glamorgan from June 12.
England’s series against New Zealand begins on June 2 at Lord’s, with the second Test slated for June 10 at Trent Bridge. The third and final Test will take place at Headingley from June 23.
