Two years ago, Ollie Robinson would have been a shoo-in for England’s Ashes touring party. And while Robinson is indeed in Australia and preparing to play cricket, he will be taking the new ball for Sydney University Cricket Club instead.
“It’s just a coincidence,” laughs Robinson when asked if it is pure chance that he is Down Under to play grade cricket right now. “I know that’s not what people want to hear, because it’s Ashes time.”
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Robinson, who turns 32 next month, did not even feature in the selection debate for this winter’s Ashes despite his impressive Test record of 76 wickets at 22.9 apiece. His ongoing absence has become accepted, but is a curiosity, too.
In another world, Robinson would be the leader of an inexperienced England attack which has lost James Anderson, Stuart Broad and Chris Woakes since the last Ashes. In reality, Robinson has not played for his country in 21 months with the most recent of his 20 Tests on the India tour at the start of last year.
So instead of toiling away in Perth, Robinson is enjoying the delights of the harbour city with his wife, the sports presenter and content creator Mia Baker, a month on from their wedding.
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Ollie Robinson and his wife Mia Baker, with whom he hosts a podcast – Instagram
“We will probably be here until just before Christmas, and have a honeymoon in January,” Robinson tells Telegraph Sport. “This is more of a bootcamp for me, while Mia does some work.”
Contacts in Sydney meant a move came together quickly and Robinson played his first grade game on Saturday, against Western Suburbs CC. He took one for 27 as Western Suburbs were bowled out for 199; his wicket was Harjas Singh, who recently scored a triple-century in grade cricket.
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This week, he was invited to New South Wales nets, where he bowled at Steve Smith and mixed with other former Ashes rivals like Josh Hazlewood, Nathan Lyon and Mitchell Starc.
“I was asked if I wanted to come in for a bowl, but I didn’t realise the big boys would be there,” he smiles. “Suddenly Lyon was walking in, Hazlewood, Starc. It was really good, they were very nice.”
Robinson has always been an eloquent interviewee, and was never shy of a word or two on the field; during the 2023 Ashes he was memorably described by the legendary Australian opener Matthew Hayden as having “a mouth from the south”.
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But after being dropped by England, Robinson, in his own words, “went dark for 12 months”. From the very first day of his 20 eventful Tests, he was a walking headline, but for the past two summers he has been quietly operating off-Broadway at resurgent Sussex.
Robinson’s wickets for Sussex over the past two seasons have helped his club to promotion and then a fourth-placed finish in Division One – Getty Images/Alex Davidson
“Over the last 18 months I’ve been able to sort my life out,” he says, full of optimism. “I had some personal things that took their toll. I’ve had to get my head right, and decide what I really want. I lost a lot of motivation, stopped enjoying my cricket. This year I have had that back, and have a new lease of life almost.
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“I feel better now, and I had a bit of… not an epiphany, but a new motivation and drive. I lost that when I was trying to sort all my personal issues out. I want to use this time in Australia to build towards being the best bowler in the world, the best I can be.”
Robinson and Baker’s relationship began in 2023. He has a five-year-old daughter from a previous relationship.
“I would have done a few things slightly different on a personal level if I could have my time again,” he says, adding: “The hardest thing has been not being able to see my daughter as much as I’d like. Being a dad is the best feeling in the world, so not seeing her as much, and having that in the background is tricky. She’s always at the front of my mind.
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“Trying to play cricket, see her as much as possible, along with the pressure of no longer playing for England, the expectation of trying to get back in. The pressure built up and I felt like my glass had spilled over.”
Of Baker, who joined him on tour in India last year where they produced a podcast called Chatting Balls together, Robinson says: “I couldn’t have got to this happy place without her.
“She’s been incredible for me – positive, supportive, and driven. We’ve both been through a lot, and she’s helped me find balance. Our wedding, with all the touches celebrating her Chinese heritage, was the best day of my life.”
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I ask Robinson if the complications in his personal life could have contributed to being dropped by England.
“Maybe,” he says. “It’s hard to know. I’ll never know, but a good guess would be yes, it would have affected it.”
There is no sense of bitterness from Robinson. In his two most recent Tests, in Ranchi and Leeds, he suffered back spasms, continuing a long-running theme that dates back to his first year as an international, 2021. Just when he should have been succeeding Anderson and Broad, he could not get through a Test unscathed.
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“It’s tricky,” he says. “I actually understand the direction they went, and why I was left out. I had two back spasms on field during games, and when you’re in professional sport and you can’t make it through games, your coaches can’t trust that you can do the job day in, day out. It’s on me to prove that I can.
“I feel like my record is good but if you can’t stay on the park for a series, you are not pickable. I have huge respect for all those lads, and Baz [Brendon McCullum] and Stokesy [Ben Stokes] and I would love to be back in that team.
“It’s a very hard pill to swallow, when you feel you can do the job and are good enough. But it’s professional sport and there are so many world-class bowlers waiting in the wings. Someone like Gus Atkinson has killed it. If I had a poor record and wasn’t performing, it’s easier to get your head around. I did have a good record, but my body wasn’t holding up.
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“I had chances and didn’t take them. Now it’s the long road to getting back in. It’s one I’m driven to take. I want to play for England and am putting the hard work in. It’s one of the reasons I am out here.”
Robinson took the last of his Test five-wicket hauls to date in the victory over South Africa at the Oval in 2022, the first summer of ‘Bazball’ – Getty Images/Clive Rose
Robinson says the back spasms were “strange” because on each occasion he felt in fine fettle. After consultations with specialists and long sessions with the psychologist at Sussex, he believes there are two reasons for the injuries. First, his action.
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“I have done a lot of pilates work to strengthen that area and change my action a tiny bit,” he says. In addition, he says: “I do feel like my body failing was stress related at times”.
Robinson’s personal issues have bled on to the field, although he has still taken 78 wickets at 25.1 across the last two seasons.
“The first year [2024], I didn’t feel very present when I was playing,” he says. “I was more doing it for Sussex, to give back to them having taken a chance on me all those years ago. I enjoyed the end of the season, when we won games and got promoted, but there were a few games where I wasn’t enjoying it at all, and it was a constant battle to be on the park. This year I found more motivation and clarity, and it’s been much better.”
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With that behind him, he is eyeing an England recall. Last year, managing director Rob Key described him as “one of the best bowlers in the world at 83mph, but not at 75mph”.
“I want to get into a position where I make it impossible not to be selected,” he says. “Whether that’s taking 70 wickets next year or anything else, I want to make that situation possible. People have done that before. I don’t think the door is closed, there is a way back in.”
Assuming he is in the right place at the wrong time this winter, the Ashes will miss Robinson. It has been almost impossible to take your eyes off his seven Ashes Tests; remember when he bowled off-spin in sunglasses in Adelaide, was criticised by his mentor Jon Lewis in Hobart, and gave Usman Khawaja a foul-mouthed send-off at Edgbaston?
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After going into the second Test at Adelaide on the last Ashes tour without a frontline spinner, England asked Robinson to bowl his off-breaks – PA Wire/Jason O’Brien
Or when Hayden said he was a “forgettable cricketer” who bowls “nude nuts”, and Ricky Ponting described him as a “slow learner”? If that all sounds negative, he has 21 wickets at 26.9 against Australia, including 11 at 25.5 in Australia. When fit, he is an outstandingly skilful bowler.
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Nude Nut: the dictionary definition
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“If you’re talking the talk but not walking the walk, you do leave yourself open to more scrutiny,” he laughs. “If you keep quiet and go about your job, then there’s probably less scrutiny. It was something I enjoyed, and it got me ticking. I loved that battle, trying to win games for England, proving people wrong.
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“If I had my time again, I would probably do a few things differently. I am a few years older and wiser now. Sometimes it’s probably best to not say a few things, but that is part of learning and part of sport.”
‘People say I’m nice now which they never did before’
Robinson believes he is a different man to the one who played for England.
“I feel like a completely different person, which is a nice feeling,” he says. “Ask people at Sussex, and they would say I maybe wasn’t the most forthcoming in terms of how I could help people. I was all about playing for England, and myself. This period has allowed me to open up my mind, and open up myself to others. I’ve had to lean on my team-mates at Sussex, I’ve opened up and connected with more people.
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“I’m doing a bit of coaching, which I really enjoy, seeing that glimpse of talent in a young player that someone might have seen in me years ago. And people seem to say I am nice now, which has never happened to me before. I think I was a bit cold and standoffish. I have changed a bit.
“Every experience teaches you something, and develops you as a person. I am in a happy place, and I don’t have many regrets because I am not sure I would have got here without it. If you’d told 10-year-old me watching the Ashes that I’d play 20 Tests I’d be extremely grateful to live that dream.
“But my energy now is getting back there. I hope the door isn’t completely shut, and I am working harder now than I ever have to reopen it.”
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Perhaps we have seen the last of Robinson in Test cricket but, with this attitude, perhaps not. First, though, he needs to brace himself for some more Australian sledging on the ovals of suburban Sydney. He will surely relish that.
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