Daily Times

LONDON: Ollie Robinson has been likened to Glenn McGrath for his height and metronomic bowling style, and the England man seems keen to fulfil a similar pantomime villain role when it comes to the Ashes. Having suggested a couple of weeks ago, in an interview with BBC local radio, that England could give Australia “a good hiding” this summer, Robinson was happy to once again talk up his side’s chances while on pre-season media duties for Sussex at Hove. “The way we’re playing cricket, we feel like we can really stick one on them and win the series comfortably,” he said with a smile. For Robinson, who ended the previous Ashes in Australia under scrutiny about his fitness levels, having been last man out at Hobart to complete a 4-0 drubbing, this summer’s contest also represents an opportunity to atone – albeit 11 wickets at 25.54 put him second on the England averages in 2021-22.

“There’s definitely a desire there still, a hunger to put it right,” he said. “I felt when I got back from that trip I didn’t leave it all out there and I’d let myself down and the side down a little bit. So it’s definitely something I want to put right and there’s a few fellas in that position as well. So there’s a lot of hungry boys this summer to beat the Aussies again.” Of his recent comments, he said he was happy to have fired the first shots in the 2023 Ashes phoney war: “I was talking to local radio but I was happy that it got out. I mean it’s been happening in every Ashes series for years – Glenn McGrath says 5-0 every Ashes. We say 5-0 every Ashes. It’s one of the biggest series we play, it only comes around every four years in England, so why not talk it up? Get it going, get it big and give the fans what they want.

“I think the cricket we’re playing at the moment makes it such an exciting time to play them. We’ve been dominating teams in all conditions for 12 months now. In England we dominated, in Pakistan we dominated and in New Zealand we played most of the cricket for nine days and lost on the last day because we probably weren’t quite there. But I think the way we’re playing cricket, we feel like we can really stick one on them and win the series comfortably.”

Robinson is currently No. 6 in the world on the ICC’s bowler rankings, and looks a leaner, fitter presence after heeding the advice of his Test captain, Ben Stokes, last year. He is set to play “three or four” of Sussex’s opening six County Championship games, as part of his preparations for the Test summer, and said that he had already begun to focus his training on pitching the ball up again, after feeling that he had slipped into bowling “pretty” lengths during England’s 1-1 draw in New Zealand last month. He will also be able to practice his Ashes smack talk in the dressing room in a few weeks, with Australia’s Steven Smith due to arrive for a three-game stint with Sussex in May.