"Some really good bowlers out there": Rob Key on Ollie Robinson's omission from England's Test squad
Jul 01, 2024
London [UK], July 1 : Following a poor tour of India, star pacer Ollie Robinson of Sussex is a noticeable absence from England's Test squad against West Indies as the abundance of fast-bowling options in county cricket, including this week's new selection, Dillon Pennington, meant that Robinson had to demonstrate that he was ready to earn a recall. Even though England men's managing director Rob Key claimed he took no notice of the record 43-run over that Robinson delivered to Louis Kimber of Leicestershire last week.
Although Robinson's record 43-run over against Louis Kimber of Leicestershire last week went unnoticed by England men's managing director Rob Key as he said that Robinson had a lot of fast-bowling options in county cricket, including this week's new selection, Dillon Pennington, and that he needed to show he was ready to be called up.
"Ollie Robinson has got back to his best in the last couple of games, we just need to see that more often. It's not a time to be taking your foot off the gas at all, because there's some really good bowlers out there," Key said as quoted by ESPNcricinfo.
England have picked a number of seam bowlers for the home series, including Anderson, Pennington, Matthew Potts, Gus Atkinson and the returning Chris Woakes. Seamer Dillon Pennington has earned maiden Test call-up after an impressive showing in the County Championship for Nottinghamshire.
"Dillon Pennington probably wasn't on our radar at all, but I've loved watching him bowl this summer. He has that little bit of pace, he's relentless in his consistency, the angle that he bowls as well. He's really kicked on this year. And we've enjoyed it," he added.
England have named a strong 14-member squad for the first two Tests against West Indies at home, to be led by Ben Stokes.
The series will be the second edition of the Richards-Botham Trophy, with West Indies winning the inaugural edition in 2022. The first Test will be held from July 10 to 14 at the Lord's Cricket Ground while the second wil take place on 18 at Trent Bridge.
Squad: Ben Stokes (c), James Anderson, Gus Atkinson, Shoaib Bashir, Harry Brook, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Dan Lawrence, Dillon Pennington, Ollie Pope, Matthew Potts, Joe Root, Jamie Smith and Chris Woakes.
