The Ashes kicked off spectacularly, providing exhilarating entertainment as expected, as Australia won the closely fought 1st Test match by 2 wickets on Day 5. Adding to the drama was Ollie Robinson's 'unsavoury' send-off of Usman Khawaja in the first innings, which did not go down well with the cricketing fraternity, especially former Australian players.
While Matthew Hayden labelled Robinson 'a forgettable cricketer', his captain during his playing years, Ricky Ponting, got into a war of words after the under-fire England seamer said, "We've all seen Ricky Ponting, (and) other Aussies do the same to us". Now, another former Australian cricketer and captain stepped in to give his two cents on the situation.
Lambasting Robinson during a podcast, Michael Clarke said, "He (Robinson) needs to shush. If England were fully fit, you wouldn't even get a game, Ollie. I actually don't know what he is doing. If James Anderson is saying all this, he's got the street cred. This dude has been around for five minutes."
Amid all the criticism, Robinson managed to find support from his team-mates, with veteran Stuart Broad echoing similar sentiments. While backing Robinson, Broad said, "Ricky Ponting had a bit of a nibble because Robbo brought his name into things during a press conference, but not because Ricky was a huge sledger. Ollie had a bit of a mind blank, Ricky Ponting was the most famous ex-Aussie cricketer he could think of, and that Australia team he played in was hardly full of shrinking violets, so the hoo-ha that was created surprised us."
England and Australia will face off in the 2nd Ashes Test from July 28 at Lord's. Despite suffering a loss at Edgbaston, England are determined to continue with their 'Bazball' approach, and a few more fireworks can be expected owing to the Robinson-Khawaja episode.
