Seamer Ollie Robinson returned to the Test cricket fold with a five-wicket haul in the ongoing Nottingham Test against India. He was brilliant with his lengths throughout India’s first innings and scalped valuable wickets of Rohit Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja among others.
Notably, he was making a comeback from the ban imposed upon him by the ECB for “racist and sexist” tweets he had posted as an 18-year old. His suspension from the game highlighted the issue of “historic” tweets and ignited a deep debate over whether the ECB took too drastic measures by suspending Robinson.
Now, having returned from what he calls the “the toughest few weeks” for himself and his family, Robinson has said that for once he feared his England career was over. He said that the expectation quantum of suspension was two years and someone else would have taken his place in the side by the time he would have been eligible to come back.
"I definitely had doubts over my career. There was a time I was speaking with my lawyers and we were looking at the fact I could be banned for a couple of years. That would have taken me up to the age of 30 and someone else could have come in and taken my spot. So yes I had doubts over my career. I thought I might never play for England again,” Robinson said.
"It was tough. Probably the toughest few weeks I've had in cricket to be honest, or in my life, actually. It affected not only myself but my family. But luckily it all came good today."
He lamented “a lot of mistakes’ including those tweets that went viral after his Test debut at a young age. He also conceded his naivety at the time he had sent those tweets and also pointed out the “bad press” he attracted after exclusion from Yorkshire.
However, he said that the last decade has been a learning curve for him and he has tried to become “the best person” he can be in the last 10 years when he has also become a father.
"I was a young, naive guy. I made a lot of mistakes. Not just those tweets. I had negative press when I got sacked from Yorkshire as well. But I've learned a lot. I have grown as a person in that time. I've tried to develop myself as a person in the last ten years. I am father now, as well, and I have just tried to make myself the best person I can be. I hope people will be able to see that,” Robinson said.
He had some moments of banter with India’s batsmen between him and KL Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja and Robinson said that he wanted to induce some shots out of Rahul’s bat, who was batting with supreme concentration.
"It was friendly banter," he says. "I was trying to get them out of their bubble and play a few shots. They were batting well. But they were pretty defensive and I wanted KL Rahul to play some shots. It was all good fun out there." However, he was delighted to show himself as a ”real deal” on the field on the third day of the Test and will cherish the moment for a long long time.
"But it was important for me to show everyone that I am the real deal on the field and try to get the scrutiny off me. It was a proud moment for myself and my family; a moment I'll cherish for a long time,” the seamer added.
Robinson could well have picked a five-wicket haul on the Test debut against New Zealand earlier this year. But, Stuart Broad had spilt an easy catch of Tim Southee and hence it was fitting that it was Broad himself who took the catch of Jasprit Bumrah to help Robinson claim his maiden fifer.