England seamer Ollie Robinson was at the heart of the action in Sussex’s thrilling victory over Yorkshire, at one point taking three wickets for no runs to tip the game in his side’s favour.
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Prior to the Yorkshire fixture it had otherwise been a relatively quiet start to the season for Robinson; his first three appearances of the summer yielded eight wickets across six innings. Ahead of the season, Robinson described the 2024 summer as a “make or break” one for his international career. Robinson struggled for rhythm in his sole Test appearance on the recent England tour of India and has faced questions about his fitness on and off for the majority of his international career.
At his best though, he has shown that he is up there with the most effective seamers in the world across a wide range of conditions. In early 2023, he reached fourth spot in the ICC Test bowling rankings and even after a quiet 12 months for England boasts a record of 76 Test wickets at 22.92 runs apiece.
Robinson gets Lyth! 👏 pic.twitter.com/vx1fbUPrcy
— Sussex Cricket (@SussexCCC) May 19, 2024
Robinson’s performance against Yorkshire was a reminder of what he is capable of when he is on song. In a low-scoring encounter, the 30-year-old took 3-25 in Yorkshire’s first innings before taking 4-42 in the second to lead Sussex to their third Division Two victory of the season.
Yorkshire, who boasted Shan Masood and Joe Root in their middle order, looked to be on track to their target of 183. With 25 more runs to get, they had four wickets in hand, including that of Adam Lyth unbeaten on 73, before Robinson dismissed the former England opener with a sharp bouncer that Lyth could only fend into the gloves of wicketkeeper John Simpson.
Robinson then struck twice in the following over to put Sussex one wicket away from the win. Two overs later, Sussex claimed the win after Fynn Hudson-Prentice ran out Ben Coad with a direct hit to seal the result. Sussex sit top of the Division Two table after six rounds.
