England seamer Ollie Robinson made an immediate impact at the international level after making his debut for England last summer as he picked 39 wickets from his first nine Tests at a terrific average of 21.28 and a stunning strike rate of 48.41.
The talented fast bowler was able to dismantle the powerful batting units, including India, New Zealand and Australia, during the course of his first three international assignments. Therefore, the British fans had started seeing him as a potential spearhead of the English pace battery.
But unfortunately, things have been rough for the Kent-born seamer since his impressive outings in the Ashes down under. Robinson suffered a back injury that ruled him out of the entire West Indies tour and the initial phase of the County Championship 2022. His misery has now been aggravated after testing positive for Covid-19.
For the oblivious, Robinson was set to represent the County 'Select XI' that took the field against the visiting New Zealand team on Thursday in the second warm-up match before the much-anticipated clash of the World Test Championship (WTC) holders with England.
This opportunity was crucial for the 28-year-old pacer to prove his fitness and claim a spot in England's Test XI for the Kiwi challenge. But unfortunately, he was ruled out of the match because of some stiffness in his back and was tested covid positive later in the day.
The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) surfaced the development on Monday through an official statement. The release stated that Robinson's fitness would be re-examined later this week after completing his isolation.
"With respect to the lower back symptoms which prevented him from playing in the four-day tour match for the FCC select XI against the New Zealand tourists at Chelmsford last week, he will be assessed after his isolation period later this week. Further information will be confirmed in due course,” the statement read.
It will be interesting to see how England responds with the return of the legendary duo of Stuart Broad and James Anderson, in the absence of the likes of Robinson, Mark Wood, Chris Woakes and Jofra Archer.