England bowler Ollie Robinson says he is more than prepared for whatever the Australians throw his way during the Ashes.
England paceman Ollie Robinson has warned he will not stand down from any on-field altercations, claiming he will try and “unsettle” the Australians however he can during the upcoming Ashes series.
The Australian Test side was renowned for its aggressive sledging before the infamous ball-tampering saga of 2018, with the Cape Town scandal forcing an overhaul of the team’s “win at all costs” mentality.
The verbal tirades – a strategy that was designed to distract and irritate opponents – were at times relentless, occasionally bordering on abusive.
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“Get ready for a broken f***ing arm,” Australian captain Michael Clarke infamously told England tailender James Anderson during the 2013/14 Ashes.
Cricket Australia underwent a thorough cultural review following sandpapergate, with the national men’s side drastically rebranding its image under the direction of coach Justin Langer and captain Tim Paine.
“There’s a difference between banter and abuse,” Langer told reporters in June 2018. “Abuse is no good – it doesn’t matter if you’re off the field or on the field, there’s no room for it ever.
“But there’s plenty of room for banter, or what we call sledging. It’s a fun part of the game.”
Australia’s new “banter” policy came to fruition in the 2018/10 Border-Gavaskar Trophy, where Paine was praised for his harmless PG-13 remarks behind the stumps, most memorably with Indian wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant.
“Do you babysit?” Paine asked the young gloveman in Melbourne. “I’ll take the wife to the movies one night, you look after the kids?”
But the Australian skipper fell back on old habits two years later, with stump mics capturing his ugly comments to Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin during this year’s New Year’s Test at the SCG.
“At least my teammates like me, d***head,” Paine chirped.
“I’ve got a lot more Indian friends than you do. Even your teammates think you’re a goose. Don’t they. Every one.”
Paine later apologised for his remarks, accepting that he took things too far in the heat of the battle – but the incident was a harsh reminder of how the Australians conducted themselves pre-2018.
Robinson, touring Australia for his first Ashes series this summer, is more than prepared for whatever Pat Cummins’ men throw his way.
“The Aussie chat is pretty horrendous if I’m honest,” he told ESPNcricinfo.
“I don’t think me as a person could keep my head down if I tried. I’m definitely going to be trying to get under their skins and try and unsettle them as it were, batters and bowlers really.
“If I can get them off their rhythm then we’re winning, so it’s something you’ll definitely see, and hopefully we will come out on top.”
England and Australia have been plagued by off-field scandals leading into the highly-anticipated Ashes series – Azeem Rafiq’s allegations of systemic racism at Yorkshire County Cricket Club have overshadowed England’s preparations, while Paine has stepped away from the sport after a series of lewd text messages between the gloveman and a former Cricket Tasmania staff member from 2017 surfaced.
But England seamer Chris Woakes has insisted the recent off-field sagas will be off-limits when it comes to sledging out in the middle over the coming seven weeks.
“What’s happened around both camps, a lot of those issues are personal,” he told reporters on Thursday. “Cricket is played best when that sort of stuff is left to the side and you let your skills do the talking.
“An Ashes series always raises that rivalry between England and Australia. In my experience of playing in three Ashes series, I don’t think it’s overstepped the line once when I’ve been around. I don’t see it being any different. The cricket is always hard-fought, and hopefully it’s a great series to watch.”
Robinson was a revelation for England over the winter, claiming 28 wickets in five Test matches at a stellar average of 19.60.
The 28-year-old missed the second Test against New Zealand after racist and sexist tweets from nine years ago resurfaced, but after returning from a brief suspension, he was England’s most consistent bowler during the thrilling series against India.
After serving their mandatory two-week quarantine, England’s Test squad has been frustrated by Queensland’s wet weather – their first of two internal warm-up matches in Brisbane was a complete washout.
“It’s obviously not ideal preparation but, as a group, we feel we’ve made do with what we’ve been given,” Robinson said.
“We feel in a good place, and we feel ahead of the Aussies which is the main thing. They were at the World Cup and in quarantine, so they are probably a few weeks behind us. We feel like we have some good work in us since being here, and hopefully that will give us the edge in the first Test.”
Robinson may not feature in the series opener in Brisbane, but he’ll almost certainly be named in the starting XI for next week’s pink-ball Test at Adelaide Oval, where he can take full advantage of the twilight conditions under lights.
The first Ashes Test gets underway at the Gabba on Wednesday, with the first ball scheduled for 11am AEDT.