A rare, amusing sight was on display this Sunday (December 19) as England pacer Ollie Robinson was left to bowl off-breaks for multiple reasons on Day 4 of the second Ashes Test against Australia in Adelaide. Robinson turned into an off-spinner for the 35th over of the Australian third-innings in the Test match and actually […]
A rare, amusing sight was on display this Sunday (December 19) as England pacer Ollie Robinson was left to bowl off-breaks for multiple reasons on Day 4 of the second Ashes Test against Australia in Adelaide.
Robinson turned into an off-spinner for the 35th over of the Australian third-innings in the Test match and actually showed admirable control and discipline with the ball.
The tall pacer’s off-breaks turned sharply on the drying Adelaide Oval surface. The very first ball that Ollie Robinson bowled against Travis Head went past the left-hander’s outside edge viciously. The bounce and the turn made wicketkeeper Jos Buttler collect the ball quite high and brought a wry smile to his face.
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Have you seen Ollie Robinson bowl off-spin?
This was the very first time that fans witnessed Ollie Robinson’s part-time off-spin bowling as he switched on from being a pacer earlier in the innings. Robinson had earlier got the prized scalp of Steve Smith bowling his normal right-arm fast but later decided to roll his arm over like an off-spinner.
Robinson can bowl off-spin as well.. #asheshttps://t.co/v44zfshy3U
— Ryan (@ryandesa_07) December 19, 2021
But what exactly triggered this change? It was for multiple reasons. Firstly, the fact that regular England skipper Joe Root was out with an abdomen injury at the time and couldn’t take the field at the start of the day. Root is the only spin option available up the visitors’ sleeves for this Test. But he had to be sidelined for the start of play and major part of the opening session on Day 4 after getting hurt in the nets. This meant that England were left with no other conventional spin option to bowl.
Secondly, the need for England to up their over-rate. Having been punished majorly for their over-rate offence in the Brisbane Test, the last thing the tourists could afford is another breach of the rules and the playing conditions. England were initially handed a five-point penalty in the World Test Championship (WTC) for their Gabba offense. But later, the ICC clarified that the actual number of overs that they were short by is eight, which, by the rule that a team is cut one point for every over, meant an extra three points deduction.
Thus, also seeing a left-hander at the crease in Wade, Robinson turned into an off-spinner out of force, not so much the choice, and send down a few overs from a short run-up. Interestingly, though, with the turn and bounce that he was getting, at decent control, it seemed that he had been practising those off-spinners for quite some time in the nets.
