Left Arm Around

If you’re a fan of English or international cricket, chances are you’ll be familiar with the controversial bowler Ollie Robinson.

Since his Test debut against New Zealand in June 2021, an appearance shrouded in controversy as old racist and sexist tweets catastrophically resurfaced in the public eye, the 6ft5 Sussex seamer has taken an impressive 76 wickets in 20 matches at a miserly average of 22.92.

Consistent injury and fitness problems in the past few years have limited his place in the team significantly, leading to criticism in many quarters of the media, yet nobody can deny the success and raw numbers of Robinson.

He may not be the quickest nor most intimidating, though he has used every ounce of his tenacity and skill to win England Test matches.

That being said, he isn’t the only Ollie Robinson making waves in English cricket.

Step forward Durham wicket-keeper batter Ollie Robinson, a rising star who also eerily shares his namesake’s birthday on December 1- albeit being born five years later in 1998.

First playing for boyhood club Kent in 2018, the 25-year-old made a loan switch to Durham in 2022 permanent a year later.

This transfer was soon vindicated as Robinson scored 931 runs across the 2023 Division Two season at an average of 58.18- including three centuries and a highest score of 167 not-out.

Durham blitzed the table with 233 points and only one defeat to finish top, meaning they booked their place in Division One for the first time since 2016.

This would present a huge challenge for a county marred by financial difficulties in recent years, an issue which saw them relegated to Division Two by the ECB, but Robinson has continued to showcase his wonderful talent and potential with a number of outstanding performances so far in the 2024 season.

The youngster began the campaign with five consecutive 50+ scores against Warwickshire Worcestershire and Essex respectively, none of which Durham lost as they secured two draws and a 185-run victory.

He followed this purple patch with scores of zero and one, however the 25-year-old then struck an almost mind-boggling 171 not-out against a strong Lancashire attack at Blackpool as the visitors came close in a record-breaking chase of 475.

Although his side eventually lost by 60 runs to consign themselves to a first defeat of the campaign, Robinson has received incredible praise across the cricketing world for the way he handled a good attack and marshalled the chase with wickets tumbling around him.

South Africa’s David Bedingham took the headlines with twin centuries in the match, supporting Robinson with a 216-run partnership in the fourth innings, but the former Kent man continued to rotate strike and pepper the boundary while others around him struggled.

Australian off-spinner Nathan Lyon, a man with 530 Test wickets to his name, removed him for a duck in the first innings.

However, he cast aside the disappointment of that failure to play Lyon with a startling quality. The sort of quality which suggests a step-up to the international game is imminent.

The highlight of his record-breaking knock was a glorious slog sweep off Lyon, which crunched into the rope to bring up his 8th first-class century.

With 542 runs at an average of 77 and strike-rate of 84.16 this season, Robinson is putting incredible pressure on England’s current wicket-keeper incumbent Ben Foakes.

Surrey’s Foakes is highly regarded as one of the best keepers across the globe, bringing great praise in India, but has been relatively quiet in the Championship so far this year.

An average of 28 in an ultra successful Surrey outfit is not something to hugely worry about, particularly with many rounds of cricket left before the first Test against West Indies on July 10.

But in an era of Bazball, brashness and hyper-positive, aggressive cricket, could Stokes and McCullum be looking to move on from a conservative batter like Foakes?

This was his highlighted by poor performances with the bat in India- a series where Foakes scored only 205 runs in ten innings at an average of 20 and strike-rate of just 39.

Simply put, he was unable to play in a mode befitting of managing the tail and adding some crucial lower order runs.

His superior glove work is worth its weight in gold- and then some- but Robinson’s ability to score and hit boundaries with regularity is definitely more in the Bazball mould moving forward.

As Jimmy Anderson finally retires and another quick bowler is set to replace him, could we see also a new man behind the stumps?

Should Robinson continue his impressive run of form, Stokes and the England selectors may be unable to ignore his case…