No smoke without fire: Ollie Robinson embraces Ashes target man status
Ollie Robinson only took up bowling pace at the age of 16. Despite being a promising offspinner, taking a hat-trick aged five for Thanet Districts Under-10s, it didn't scratch his competitive itch. Fingerspin lacked the aggression he craved. As he explained a couple of years ago, "You can't bowl bouncers, can you?"
On an England Lions tour of Australia in 2019-20, as the squad made their way to the team bus following a training session at Hobart, they passed Australia's Test captain Tim Paine having a net. Most walked by without acknowledgement, but Robinson decided to have a few words, and none of them were particularly complimentary.
During the Test series away to India at the start of 2021, Robinson - a few months out from his debut in the home summer - had a handful of stints as the designated 12th man. On one occasion, having run drinks out to England's batters, he decided to engage Virat Kohli, who had not been short of chat himself. It is an unwise move to butt heads with Kohli at the best of times, but doing so in a bib when you're not even playing feels particularly foolish. Robinson thought otherwise.
As you can tell, Ollie Robinson has always wanted the smoke. Whether switching up his bowling or going out of his way to seek it with various heads of state before he had even reached their level, something about the gnarl between bowler and batter calls to him. Drives him. Guides him. And if you did not know that before, you certainly do now.
Since the culmination of the first Ashes Test, former Australia cricketers have been lining up - more or less in batting order - to take swings at Robinson. Michael Clarke is the latest, urging the seamer to "shoosh" and suggesting he'd be playing club cricket if England did not have so many injuries among their quicks. It was a variation of Matthew Hayden's comments a few days earlier, which he concluded by labelling Robinson "a forgettable cricketer", after his old opening partner Justin Langer used his column in the Daily Telegraph to warn the 29-year-old he was in danger of being "ripped apart" if he continued his antagonistic ways.
Robinson is Australia's new public enemy number one. A tag he has assumed in typically Bazball fashion - going harder with every new media engagement.
"Maybe he sees it as a compliment," joked England vice-captain Ollie Pope at Lord's on Monday. "He gets in the battle and sometimes, in a big series like this, emotions take over while you are on the pitch. But he's a top guy."
It's worth a quick refresher on how we got to this point. To work backwards - the Wisden column on Australia's unwillingness to go toe-to-toe with England (despite winning the match); the mid-match press conference calling out Ricky Ponting's on-field behaviour as a player; the sweary send-off to Usman Khawaja, which led to those questions about Robinson's conduct, dismissed as nothing more than Ashes fervor by the man himself.
We could go back even further. Back in March, he set the content machine in motion when stating he wanted to give Australia "a good hiding". The beauty of that soundbite was the setting: at half-time of Brighton against Crystal Palace at the Amex Stadium. Robinson was in attendance in a social capacity and bumped into sports reporter Adrian Harms, who also covers Sussex (Robinson's county). Asked for a quick chat with BBC Radio Sussex about the summer ahead, Robinson was happy to oblige more out of courtesy than contractual obligation before firing the first shot.
Behind closed doors, England are broadly amused by the scale of reaction towards Robinson. His belligerence has long been regarded as a strength - by no means a unique trait in professional sport. And there is admiration by how unfazed he seems that some of the game's modern greats are gunning for him.
Those who played against him in the County Championship have first-hand experience of his confrontational nature with ball in hand. Earlier this season, he told one Division Two batter exactly what was going to happen in his first spell of the match: "I'm going to get you out, and you're going to put the picture on your Instagram feed." He was right - about the first part, at least.
There's also the time in the Covid-19 bubble at the Ageas Bowl in the 2020 summer when, during a game of darts, Robinson made a comment to James Anderson that sent those within earshot into silence. That was broken by laughter from Anderson. Moments later, Phil Scott, England's strength and conditioning coach, told Robinson: "I think he likes you. He likes the fact you took the piss out of him."
What similarity there is with the various perceived missteps this last week only go so far. Anderson took the comment with good grace because, even then, he knew Robinson was a highly skilled seamer with enough about him to succeed at Test level. And while Hayden's mention of Robinson's "nude nuts" has added to the game's lexicon - essentially, deliveries with nothing on them - it is not really accurate. His 71 Test dismissals have come at an average of 21.15 across 17 caps, nine of which have come away from home. And though the 2021-22 tour of Australia ended with Robinson publicly admonished for a lack of fitness - and that notorious spell of offspin in Adelaide with sunnies on - he still finished with 11 wickets at 25.54.
It's worth noting Australia's current pros are not all that bothered. When you're 1-0 up, you can afford to let these kinds of things slide. Indeed Mitchell Starc was the closest we have got to a retort when asked in his press conference if Robinson had set off the starter pistol for a mouthier Ashes than anticipated. "Is that how I play my cricket?" Starc responded. "Probably not. He can talk all he likes."
Australia's focus remains narrow, and you could argue Robinson's cross-platform content, supplemented by - but not limited to - Zak Crawley's prediction of a 150-run win in the second Test this week, continues a theme from the lead-up to this series. England have done most of the talking.
That the second act in an already gripping production is to take place at Lord's adds a little more on Robinson. Two years ago, he debuted against New Zealand - a day which started with pride and ended with addressing offensive social media posts made between 2012 and 2013. He understands those tweets, and the conclusions they elicit of him as a person, will never really go away. His indulgence in this phoney Ashes war has seen that resurface.
Maybe that's why he has no qualms about speaking his mind when staying quiet may be a bit easier. Returning from such a low ebb to become a de facto leader of this attack - despite Clarke's intimation - has no doubt thickened his skin and strengthened his resolve.
Given the nature of a game as humbling as this, the question to ask is whether Robinson's mouth is writing cheques he can't cash. He seemingly does not think so. But there is no doubt he is stepping into this week with the most significant target he has happily donned on his back. In his most high-profile series to date, England need their biggest performance from him if they are to overturn a 1-0 scoreline.
The smoke is only getting denser. We are about to find out just how much Robinson wants it.