Broad-Anderson 2.0- Josh Tongue, Ollie Robinson Give England The Missing Puzzle Australia Craves

Why Robinson-Tongue could be the next Broad-Anderson for England [Source: AFP]

Stuart Broad retired from Test cricket in 2023, and his partner in crime, James Anderson, bid adieu a year later, and despite time passing, the England management and selectors have failed to replace the iconic duo in red-ball cricket.

When we talk about some of the most iconic bowling partnerships in Tests, we often talk about Glenn McGrath-Shane Warne and Chaminda Vaas-Muttiah Muralitharan, but one partnership that goes under the radar is Anderson-Broad.

The pair has scalped 1,308 combined Test wickets, and they helped England become one of the best Test teams in the world. However, two years after they both retired, the selectors are yet to find their successor, but perhaps their search might be coming to an end.

Ollie Robinson and Josh Tongue to lead England's new bowling revolution

After years of waiting to find the right kind of bowlers in Test cricket, England might have hit the jackpot with Ollie Robinson and Josh Tongue. Robinson has been playing since 2021, but he was dropped in 2024 before the pacer made his brilliant comeback in 2026, and he did the damage against Pakistan in the first Test with a 5-wicket haul.

The same has been the case with Josh Tongue, who entered the first Test with loads of confidence after delivering in The Hundred. Like Robinson, he dismantled the Pakistan batters and took a fifer to bundle out the visitors for 171.

The recent sample size has been small, but the direction the England team is heading has been on the positive side.

Stats reveal Robinson, Tongue's extraordinary record in red-ball cricket

Not only against Pakistan in the first Test, but Tongue and Robinson have done well in Tests for England, and their red-ball record reveals the story.

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(Robinson and Tongue stats in Tests)

• As the data reveals, both Robinson and Tongue have been exceptional for England in Tests, and despite not playing too much red-ball cricket for the Three Lions, the duo have been a match-winner for them.
• In 21 Tests, Robinson has plucked 83 wickets, while Josh Tongue has picked up 57 wickets in 12 Tests. Both have delivered the goods for England in Tests, and can be a long-term successor to Anderson-Broad.

How Robinson is like Broad, and Tongue has skillsets similar to Anderson

• There is a reason why Robinson and Tongue are similar to Broad and Anderson in terms of skillsets, and why the two have been picked as their successor in Tests.
• The 32-year-old Robinson has been a late bloomer, but he can definitely give 4 quality seasons to the England team. He also has attributes similar to Broad in Test cricket. Broad was known for his excellent seam presentation, which troubled the best in the business.
• The former England cricketer Broad had the ability to nip the ball back and away from the same length, and Robinson has been doing the same (for England and for his domestic team).
• Tongue, on the other hand, has the ability to swing the ball both ways like the great Jimmy Anderson. While his go-to deliveries in Tests are the short-of-a-length balls, as witnessed in the Pakistan Test, Tongue can deliver the goods when he pitches the ball further up to the batter.
• Tongue has also started to use the wobble seam deliveries, and Anderson used to do the same during his playing days.

Also Read: Ollie Robinson Breaks Kapil Dev's 43-Year-Old Record Vs Pakistan

Why Robinson-Tongue Give England The Missing Puzzle Australia Craves

England has a 32-year-old Robinson and a 28-year-old Josh Tongue in their arsenal, something that Australia is missing in their lineup. The likes of Pat Cummins, Mitch Starc, and Josh Hazlewood are at least two tiers above the two English pacers, but all three of them are getting old.

Out of the three Australian bowlers, Cummins and Hazlewood are also injury-prone, and the Australian management doesn’t have a quality replacement for them in Tests. That has not been the issue with England, as Robinson can easily play for four more years, and Tongue has reached the prime of his career.

Australian cricket could go down because the team doesn't have world-class bowlers to replace the three champion bowlers, and on the other hand, England cricket could witness a rise.

Final verdict

Stuart Broad and James Anderson are two of the finest to grace the game in red-ball cricket, and they would certainly go down as the two best English Test bowlers of all-time. However, the England side needs someone to replicate what the pair had done for them in the game’s longest format, and Ollie Robinson and Josh Tongue could be their answer.

The two pacers have skill sets similar to Broad and Anderson, and the selectors should persist with the pair in red-ball cricket, as they could be the missing piece in England once again becoming a solid Test-playing nation.

Also Read: England Lose Two Key Players To Injury Amid Test Series vs Pakistan