England Cricket Board has named Ollie Robinson as Matthew Potts’ replacement player for the seond Test match against South Africa.
Robinson Named as Matthew Potts’ Replacement Player
Diring the South Africa tour of England, both teams are scheduled toplay a total of 3 Tests which are a part of ICC World Test Championship 2021-23.
Robinson made his Test debut against New Zealand on June last year and played nine Tests so far. He picked up 39 scalps at 21.28. He has claimed two five-wicket hauls with the best of 5/65.
Ben Stokes, England’s captain, explained Robinson’s height and ability to extract lift from the pitch was a decisive factor in his comeback and praised his Durham teammate Potts for a mature response to being left out.
“When you look at what Ollie possesses as a bowler, one of his real key assets is how much extra bounce he gets compared to other bowlers in our squad,” said Stokes.
“We think here at Old Trafford, with it being a slightly quicker wicket than other grounds we play at, it obviously offers a lot more bounce. We obviously pick the team we think is going to enable us to win the Test.
Sussex pace bowler Ollie Robinson last played for England in the final Test of the Ashes series against Australia in January.
“It’s very tough for Matty to miss out, but what he’s done in the five games that he’s played is he’s taken himself from a county cricketer with a lot of promise and really announced himself on the big stage. We’ve got to give him a lot of credit, to handle the decision so professionally at such a young age is a real indication of where we’re at at the moment as a team.
“The selection was based around what we thought was the best bowling attack to suit this particular ground and he completely understood that.”
South Africa beat England by an innings and 12 runs within the three days of the first test match at Lord’s. The second Test match will start at Manchester’s Old Trafford ground on Thursday.
England team to face South Africa
Alex Lees, Zak Crawley, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes (c), Ben Foakes (wk), Ollie Robinson, Jack Leach, Stuart Broad, James Anderson.
