Ollie Robinson suffers another injury blow

Ollie Robinson's hopes of returning to the England Test setup have taken a massive blow as the pacer reportedly has issues with his back. Robinson pulled out of the four-day match for the County Select XI ahead of the New Zealand tour. 


The right-arm tall fast bowler has played 9 Test matches so far, picking up 39 wickets with an average of 21.28. He was plagued with back issues during the Ashes series and missed all three Test matches against the West Indies in March. 


Upon his return to the County setup, Robinson suffered numerous disruptions. He suffered from a tooth infection which delayed his first appearance in the 2022 County Championship. Moreover, he also had food poisoning, which hindered his appearance against Leicestershire.


England's fast bowlers are dealing with injuries. Saqib Mahmood, Jofra Archer and Matthew Fisher are already sidelined due to injuries. Robinson has now joined the injury list, creating issues for the newly appointed red-ball coach, Brendon McCullum.


The Kent-born bowler was one of the five Wisden's cricketers of the year and made his debut against New Zealand at Lord's last summer. He took 28 wickets with an average of 19 in the home season against New Zealand and India and became a permanent bowler in the red ball setup.  


Middlesex's Ethan Bamber has been called up as a replacement but was not named in the playing XI.



Discover more
Top Stories
news

'Will come back stronger': Gautam Gambhir hails the LSG team for their maiden IPL stint

When it comes to the 2022 edition of Indian Premier League (IPL), the inclusion of two new teams - Gujarat Titans (GT) & Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), made the tournament more intriguing and competitive. One of the key takeaways from this league wouldn't just be the players displaying their top-notch game and talent, but the team's coaching department’s dedication and commitment was for everyone to see. Former Indian opener Gautam Gambhir took over the mentorship position at Lucknow camp and has been phenomenal with them. Not just providing some critical feedback to the player but showing his aggression and rejoicing in the dugout during the team's success. He has been one of the pivotal backbones behind the new franchise's successful IPL season, leading them to the playoffs. Under the guidance of Andy Flower and Gambhir's mentorship, LSG has been phenomenal in the league stages of the tournament by winning eight matches out of 14. But things didn't favour them in their first playoffs stint. Facing the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Eliminator match on Wednesday, they weren't good enough to stop them, who have now progressed to the second Qualifiers. Conceding a humongous total of 208, thanks to Rajat Patidar's century (112* runs off 54 balls), Lucknow failed to chase their target and lost the match by 14 runs. Rahul and Deepak Hooda have shown their efforts with the bat but in vain. Predominantly known for his practical and straightforward approach to the game, the two-time world cup winning opener believed in his ways and was impressed with the new team's efforts. Indeed, it would be their memorable first tournament for the franchise. After losing the eliminator match, Gambhir took to Instagram to appreciate the team's efforts. "Hard luck today but a great tournament for our new team. We'll come back stronger. Until we meet again!" read the caption on his recent Instagram post. After the Eliminator, RCB would be taking over the Rajasthan Royals (RR) in the second Qualifier in Ahmedabad on 27th May. The winner of the game meets Gujarat Titans (GT) in the final on Sunday.