England’s winter tour has thrown up an odd little subplot: Ollie Robinson, out of the Test picture since early 2024, popped up at the SCG on Thursday and bowled a lengthy spell to Steven Smith.
New South Wales wanted a quality seamer for their Shield prep, and Robinson – in Sydney for a short stint with grade side Sydney University – happily obliged. Local reporters clocked him at “about 45 minutes”, working first at Smith, then young Sam Konstas, before chatting through lines and lengths with NSW coach Greg Shipperd.
Robinson has 21 Ashes wickets but was overlooked by England all last summer despite 39 Championship dismissals for Sussex. “When the body’s right, the skills are still there,” a Sussex team-mate told me recently, “it’s just a question of trust.” For now, Australia are the ones benefitting.
While Robinson steamed in at Moore Park, half the England squad were 3,300 kilometres away at Lilac Hill, easing jet-lag out of the legs. The headline act, of course, was Ben Stokes. He has not played since jarring a shoulder muscle against India in July, yet he bowled a handful of overs on Thursday and later threw himself into slip catching. Team physician Dr Phil Riley said the captain is “tracking to plan”.
Stokes landed in Perth to a typically cheeky West Australian front-page, labelling him “England’s Cocky Captain Complainer”. The all-rounder shrugged, telling a passer-by, “You lot don’t half love a headline,” before heading for the nets. Earlier in the week, at Lincoln in Christchurch, he had hit the bowling machine for forty minutes, splicing extra fielding drills between sets. “I’m ticking along nicely,” he told Sky NZ.
The touring party is arriving in dribs and drabs. Jimmy Anderson, Mark Wood and Jonny Bairstow fly in over the weekend; Harry Brook has a few more days with Northern Superchargers. England’s only warm-up fixture – a three-day hit-out against the Lions – starts Thursday, also at Lilac Hill. Coaches insist it will be “proper first-class intensity”, though everyone knows the real contest begins at Optus Stadium on 21 November.
Back in Sydney, Robinson will play for Sydney Uni on Saturday. Shield skippers were nudging NSW to grab him for a game, but Cricket Australia eligibility rules make that tricky. Even so, word is the Blues may invite him for another training spell when Smith next fancies a hit. Not the rehearsal England planned, perhaps, but cricket tours rarely follow the script.
