England's Infamous ‘Racist And Sexist’ Creates World Record (Source: AFP Photos)
England’s Ollie Robinson made quite a few headlines in 2021 right after making his Test debut. It was against New Zealand at the Lord’s, the iconic venue where he was once again in action against the same opponent on Thursday.
Unfortunately, the headlines were for all the wrong reasons, as his infamous tweets were racist and sexist. Even though the highlighted tweets were all from between 2012 and 2013, and Robinson was a teenager back then, he had to apologise for his actions and was later suspended by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB).
Robinson was not in the mix of things for a while. He played only one Test match for England during the 2023/24 season before making his comeback on Thursday during their first of the three-match Test series. And the 32-year-old could not have asked for a better way to announce his arrival once again.
Ollie Robinson Makes Sensational Return For England
England, batting first, could only muster 140 runs on the board, with Kyle Jamieson wreaking havoc by picking up five wickets for New Zealand. Coming to bowl, Gus Atkinson conceded two runs off the first over.
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Then Robinson took the ball in hand and breathed fire. He took the wickets of Devon Conway, Kane Williamson and Rachin Ravindra within six deliveries. In the process, he became the first bowler from his country in 149-year-old Test cricket history to bag three wickets in an opening over of the innings.
Prior to Robinson, there were six bowlers who had achieved the same feat. They were Sri Lanka’s Nuwan Zoysa, New Zealand’s Daniel Vettori, Pakistan’s Haris Sohail, Australia’s Scott Boland and Mitchell Starc, along with India’s Irfan Pathan.
Robinson Keeps England In Charge At Lord's
Riding on Robinson’s heroics, England, despite posting 140 runs in the first innings, are in charge in the first Test match against New Zealand at stumps on Day 1. The Black Caps could only reach 61/6, still trailing by 79 runs.
For New Zealand, Glenn Phillips is still at the crease and will resume the proceedings. He is batting on 31 with the help of six fours, and has taken only 34 balls to get there.
With that, as many as 16 wickets fell at Lord’s on Day 1 of the first Test match at Lord’s, even though it was interrupted multiple times due to rain.
How Has Ollie Robinson Played For England?
Robinson began his career really well, and he still has an impressive average of 21.9, having taken 80 wickets in 21 matches.
His average was 21.16 after eight matches in 2021, 18.17 after six matches in 2022, but worsened in 2023 to 30.43 after five matches before receiving the negligence from the ECB.
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