England seamer Ollie Robinson said he was surprised by Australia’s unwillingness “to go toe-to-toe with us” adding that the visitors have to change plans in order to match England’s Bazballers in the second Test if they are to keep their lead in the series.
Robinson was the bowler when Pat Cummins hit the winning runs to secure the two-wicket win in the first Ashes Test. His outspoken start to the series prompted former Australian captain Ricky Ponting to urge the bowler to back up his talk on the pitch.
In his column for Wisdon.com, Robinson wrote: “We were surprised by how defensive Australia were and how unwilling they were to go toe-to-toe with us. Obviously, it’s worked for them this Test match. But we feel that with the way they’re playing at the moment, a pitch with a bit more movement would benefit us hugely.
“You just don’t see the Australians cautious and on the backfoot like that. As soon as we saw the field for that first over, we felt like we had a hold on them.
“Of course, it sounds weird because they won it, but I think if they’re honest, Australia will look at themselves and realise they need to change their approach to keep up with how we’re going to play. If there’s any movement in the pitch at Lord’s, the way we’re playing compared to them is going to benefit us hugely.”
England’s positive approach didn’t get them across the line in the opening Test of the new World Test Championship (WTC) cycle, leaving their record under Ben Stokes’ captaincy at 11 wins and four defeats.
Robinson revealed that coach Brendon McCullum was extremely positive after the match in Birmingham.
“He just said, ‘Lads, I’m immensely proud of the efforts that you’ve put in, we’ve made the game what it was. We were so close to pulling off an unbelievable victory. We played all the cricket in the game. If it wasn’t for us, the Australians wouldn’t have even had a chance to win,” Robinson wrote.
On the Khawaja send-off incident, the seamer said he has spoken to the Australian opener about the incident and that there are no hard feelings.
“It was nothing against Ussie, it was just one of those things, I got caught up in the moment and let myself go. All the bowlers do it when they’re fired up and trying to get a wicket for their team. I spoke to Ussie after as well and we were all good.”
There will be a lot of pressure on Robinson and England to bounce back in the second Test at Lord’s, which starts on June 28 but Robinson has vowed that the team will double down on their ‘Bazball’ approach, and won’t lose hope even if they go 2-0 down in the series.
“I have faith in this team that even if we went 2-0 down we could still win 3-2, because of the style of cricket that we’re playing. Obviously, we want the public to be invested in us and we want to win games for them.
“If they can keep backing us, I promise they’ll get rewarded, and 2-0 down could be 3-2 and we’ll see one of the greatest series ever.”
“One thing I can guarantee. You’re going to see us come harder and harder,” he wrote.
The second Ashes Test will start at Lord’s on June 28, with Australia 1-0 up in the series.
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