Bowler Ollie Robinson has not recovered from a back spasm and was left out of the 12-man squad announced by England on Sunday; the first test against the West Indies starts on Tuesday
Bowler Ollie Robinson has not recovered from a back spasm
Ollie Robinson has been ruled out of England’s first test against the West Indies with a back spasm, with unstopped closer Saqib Mahmood coming into the squad.
Robinson was stopped midway through an over during the warm-up match against the CIT President’s XI and was unable to take part in training on Sunday.
England were unlikely to bet on the 28-year-old’s fitness, but that solved the problem and allowed Mahmood to take his place in a 12-man squad.
Caretaker head coach Paul Collingwood and captain Joe Root must now decide whether to give Lancashire a quick debut on Tuesday in a full attack or stick with the variety of Jack Leach’s left arm spin.
Craig Overton appears confident to play, while Mark Wood has recovered from illness, but with record winners James Anderson and Stuart Broad controversially eliminated for the tour, concerns about the depth of the rhythm attack is the last thing fans wanted. tourists.
“Ollie is a talented bowler. Naturally it will be a huge loss,” said Chris Woakes, who is the senior bowler on the trip. “He’s shown in his short trial run so far that he certainly has the skills and the ability to do good things in the format. At the same time, he gives people opportunities.”
“We are trying to win cricket games here, but it gives someone a chance to potentially make their Test debut that they have been waiting for quite some time to show what they can do at this level.”
James Cole of Sky Sports News
“This is a big hit. Although he doesn’t have a lot of experience, he’s off to a great start in his test run and is a useful part of that attack.”
“If you take out Stuart Broad and James Anderson, you just want to be able to go to someone with that ability. Craig Overton is less experienced and likely to open bowling with Chris Woakes.
“But as Andrew Strauss said, I wanted this red ball restart to feel different, I wanted the dynamic to feel different, and we’ll get that done when England are forced to turn to someone else.”
