Former England bowler Stuart Broad has admitted he was surprised to see Ollie Robinson recalled to the Test squad – and questioned why the Sussex seamer did not feature in the Ashes.
Robinson appears primed to take the new ball in the first Test against New Zealand at Lord's from 4 June after being brought back into the international fold for the first time in two years.
His recall comes after England struggled for new-ball accuracy and penetration in Australia during their 4-1 Ashes defeat after the retirements of Broad, James Anderson and Chris Woakes. Now captaining Sussex in the County Championship, Robinson had appeared out of favour having been dropped following the 2024 tour to India amid concerns over his fitness and a reported falling out with the England hierarchy.
But captain Ben Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum have given the highly-skilled bowler another chance, with Robinson boasting an impressive Test record of 76 wickets at an average of 22.92.
Broad, who featured regularly alongside Robinson before his retirement, thought that his former colleague was out of favour for good, and believes he should have been picked for the Ashes tour if that was not the case.
"I was a little bit surprised," conceded Broad, speaking on the For The Love of Cricket podcast. "There must have been a turnaround – I think Robbo said at the start of the summer there'd been a bit of contact [with England]."
"I suppose the confusing thing for me is, if he's good enough to open the bowling on 4 June against New Zealand at Lord's, which he is – he's a brilliant bowler – why was he not at the Ashes?"
"He'd have bowled Australia out for 30 at the MCG with how much that pitch moved. It feels like a complete waste to not use him over the winter in Australia if suddenly he's now available and able to be used at Lord's."
Robinson's recall comes with Sussex squadmate Jofra Archer unavailable for the first Test at least after playing in the Indian Premier League (IPL), while both Brydon Carse and Mark Wood are working their way back from injury.
Surrey's Matthew Fisher, who has one Test cap, and potential debutant Sonny Baker of Hampshire join Robinson, Josh Tongue and Gus Atkinson as specialist seamers within the first Test squad. Stokes has recently opened the bowling for Durham and could yet figure as a new-ball option, too.
Broad is pleased, though, to see Robinson back, believing him to be the best new-ball bowler available to England.
"I'd love to know what the turnaround has been – has he suddenly improved his fitness or improved his attitude because he was never left out because of performance," said Broad.
"Not that these guys have ever said this to me, I thought McCullum and Stokes had lost faith and lost trust and that was the end of that."
"I suppose it's probably a case of who else will take the new ball? The new-ball bowling in the Ashes was awful and they need a new-ball bowler."
"There's no doubt Ollie is the best new-ball bowler available to England in the country at the moment. He has amazing ability to get the new ball to talk and he gets bounce."
Rob Key said he's a world-class bowler at 82-83mph and the test for Robbo is if that 82-83mph stays over three Tests and for every spell without him going off or missing sessions.
"Not many bowlers get another chance when you have been written off for character and attitude."
