Ollie Robinson continues to be in the firing line of former Australia cricketers after his ugly send-off of Usman Khawaja during the first Ashes Test last week.
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Michael Clarke is the latest to have a go at Ollie Robinson for the latter’s vulgar “f*** off, you f***ing p***k” send-off after dismissing Usman Khawaja for 141 at Edgbaston. Robinson had defended himself at the end of the day’s play, stating that former Australia cricketers, led by Ricky Ponting, would sledge England players back in the day.
Following England’s narrow two-wicket defeat, Ponting and Matthew Hayden both criticised Robinson for his behaviour. Hayden also called Robinson a “forgettable cricketer.”
Their former teammate Clarke has also attacked Robinson and advised him to concentrate on taking wickets as he has only “been around for five minutes” and that he would not have made the XI if players had not been injured.
Speaking on Big Sports Breakfast, Clarke said: “He needs to shoosh. If England were fully fit you wouldn’t even get a game, Ollie. If Jofra Archer was playing, or if [Mark] Wood had been playing and was fully fit, old mate — I don’t know what town he plays for — he’d be back playing clubbies.
“I actually don’t know what he’s doing. If James Anderson is saying all this, he’s got street cred. He’s played 180 Test matches, he’s got a lot of wickets. This dude has been around for five minutes. He needs to concentrate on taking wickets. Ollie, just keep taking five-fors and then you can say what you like.”
Clarke also lashed out at Brendon McCullum for his post-match comments after the loss where he seemingly told the England dressing room “It feels like we’ve won, lads.” Since last summer, McCullum has reinvented England’s Test fortunes with Bazball, an aggressive and attacking style of play, and the same free-spiritedness was on display in the first Ashes Test match, when England declared on 393-8 on the first day.
England batted with a run rate of 5.03 in the first innings and 4.12 in the second as they set a target of 281, which Australia chased down courtesy an excellent ninth-wicket stand between captain Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon.
Clarke referenced Robinson’s article on Wisden.com, where the Englishman mentioned McCullum’s quote: “It feels like we’ve won, lads. We’ve entertained the world, and we’ve put the Aussies on the back foot. For him to say that after a loss is quite significant for us.”
The former Australia skipper replied to McCullum’s comments and said, “To me when you win it feels like you win, when you lose it feels like you lose. If you had have had a draw, then you can think about saying that but you actually lost. That’s called the ultimate positivity. It felt like a win when you lost? That’s a different feeling to what I ever remember when we lost.”
