Ollie Robinson, the fast bowler for England, said that he was “in the heat of the moment” when he seemed to verbally attack Usman Khawaja during the first test match, which took place on Sunday at Edgbaston.
After the Australian opener extended his overnight century on the third day of the match, Robinson bowled Khawaja for 141 to conclude the innings.
As the batsman Khawaja made his way back to the pavilion, it appeared like he had some choice words for Khawaja.
After that, Robinson assisted in cleaning up the tail as the current owners of the Ashes were bowled out for 386, which was only seven runs below England’s first-innings declared score of 393-8.
In their second innings, England reached stumps on 28-2 after both of their openers, Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley, were bowled out by the opposition in circumstances that were cloudy and seam-friendly in between two downpours.
“It’s my first home Ashes, and to get the big wicket at the time was special for me,” Robinson said in a post-play news conference. “It’s my first home Ashes.”
“Ussie’s performance was incredible, in my opinion. And for the team as a whole, to get that wicket at that moment was a huge deal.
The so-called “theatre of the game”
The man, who was 29 years old at the time, continued by saying, “And I suppose we all want that theater of the game, don’t we? As a result, I’ve come to supply it. To tell you the truth, I couldn’t care less how others react to it. This is a competition at the highest level, the Ashes. If you can’t manage something as simple as that, what can you possibly handle?
When asked if abusing opponents was a part of that “theatre,” Robinson responded, “No, it’s not but I think when you’re in the heat of the moment and you have the passion of the Ashes, that can happen.” Robinson was referring to the passion that surrounds the Ashes.
“I believe that all of us have witnessed Ricky Ponting and other Australians behave in the same manner toward us. Just because the situation is reversed does not mean that it will be received positively.
Robinson’s statements to Khawaja had the potential to get him in trouble with the match referee Andy Pycroft, but the England player refused to speak on the matter, saying, “I’m not going to comment on that.”
He was more forthright about the dismissal itself, which he said was inspired by a chat with Ben Stokes the ball before, where Robinson recalled the England captain how he had established ‘umbrella fields’ during a 3-0 series triumph away to Pakistan in December. He also revealed that the dismissal was inspired by a talk with Ben Stokes the ball before.
Khawaja then attempted to break through a ring of fielders that Stokes had placed in front of the batsman’s line of sight after he had proposed that Robinson deliver a yorker.
“I just went for a yorker, Ussie came down the wicket and played a different sort of shot to what he’s been playing, and luckily it hit the off stump,” said Robinson. “I just wanted to get him off his game.”
It was one of those plots that worked out perfectly, making Stokesy look like a genius in the process.
The tail of the Australian batting lineup struggled against the short ball, and as a result, they lost their last four wickets for a total of 14 runs in 23 balls. Meanwhile, their skipper, Pat Cummins, hit 38 batting at No. 8.
“We said once we get past Cummins, we feel like they have three No 11s,” said Robinson. “We feel like they have three No 11s.””It’s something that we can target throughout the course of the series.”
Alex Carey, the wicketkeeper for Australia, declined to comment when asked about what Robinson had said to Khawaja.
“I didn’t see it at all,” he stated emphatically. “Usman hasn’t mentioned anything. Due to the fact that it is the Ashes, there will be periods when the cricket is quite intense and nasty. I didn’t see anything that was out of the ordinary there.