Pope: Robinson will ‘let the ball do the talking’ after angering Australia
O
llie Pope has backed teammate Ollie Robinson to “let the ball do the talking” when the Second Ashes Test will get underway at Lord’s on Wednesday.
Robinson sparked the sequence’ first controversy along with his expletive-laden send-off of Australia batter Usman Khawaja on the third day of the vacationers’ two-wicket victory at Edgbaston.
After dismissing Khawaja for 141, Robinson was caught on digicam the opener to “F*** off, you f****** p****” and whereas the incident was largely shrugged off by each units of gamers, the Sussex seamer got here in for heavy criticism within the Australian press.
Australia greats Ricky Ponting and Matthew Hayden had been each unimpressed by Robinson’s antics, the latter labelling him a “forgettable cricketer” who bowls “nude nuts”.
Speaking forward of the Second Test, nevertheless, England’s vice-captain Pope claimed the scrutiny can be water off a duck’s again to Robinson.
“Ollie is the kind of guy, he gets in the battle and sometimes in a big series like this emotions take over while you are on the pitch,” Pope mentioned. “Obviously in an Ashes series, these things are really brought to light.
“In the heat of the moment he was obviously pumped up to take that wicket but it was nothing personal in the way that he’s gone about it. That is just the way he plays his cricket.
“He will just go about his business the way he does. He is a high-quality bowler so hopefully he can let the ball do all the talking.
“Maybe he sees [the criticism] as a compliment. They’re legends of the game and are entitled to their own opinion. Robbo’s in good spirits this week so hopefully he can just come out and deliver with the ball.”
Pope additionally instructed Moeen Ali will likely be match to maintain his place within the facet after scuffling with blistering to his spinning finger on his Test return at Edgbaston.
The all-rounder bowled in nets as England started coaching at Lord’s on Monday morning, with teenage leggie Rehan Ahmed additionally a part of the squad having been known as up as cowl.
“I think Mo’s all good,” Pope added. “It was pretty unfortunate what happened and hopefully over these few days it has looked after itself and hopefully he is fit to play.”
England are looking to become the first team since Michael Vaughan’s 2005 heroes to come from behind to claim the Urn.
Victory for Australia at Lord’s meanwhile, would leave Pat Cummins’ side on the brink of retaining the Ashes, with only one team in the rivalry’s history having overturned a 2-0 deficit to win the series.
Ollie Pope in training on Monday.
/ PAThe significance of this Second Test, then, is clear, but Pope insists England will not be inhibited by their predicament.
“Absolutely not,” Pope mentioned. “We were gutted at the end of the [first] game to lose as you should be. You put in five days of hard work and to end up on the wrong side of the result, you get back to your spot and are like: ‘Man, how annoying is that?’.
“But we spoke positively about the game, we spoke about what we did well and what we can improve on this week.
“There’s no fear of losing, that’s something this team’s never going to have. If we go 2-0 down we’ll see it as a chance to win 3-2. That’s just the mindset we want to have and will hopefully stand us in good stead across the series.”