LONDON
On day three of the third Test between England and South Africa, the first of any play after Thursday’s rain and Friday’s cancellation out of respect for the passing of the Queen, Robinson’s 5 for 49 helped skittle South Africa for 118 in their first innings.
After restricting visitors to 118, England were 154-7 till last reported, potentially leading by 36 with three wickets still in hand.
A recall in the second Test at Emirates Old Trafford at the expense of the impressive Matthew Potts represented a new chapter for Robinson, putting injury and general fitness issues behind him to take five in the match (1 for 48 and 4 for 43) as England levelled with an innings-and-85-run win. These five in the space of 14 overs, which not only are new a career-best but put him one away from 50 victims in the format in just his 11th appearance, reinforced the faith shown in him by captain Ben Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum and underlined the hard work he has put in to re-establish himself in the XI.
The accuracy and ability to manipulate the ball to outfox even the most seasoned pros – like when he took Dean Elgar’s off stump for a walk in the second over of the match – is now reinforced by a bit of extra pace and stamina. According to CricViz, his averaged speed this season, admittedly only three innings long so far, is 82.9mph – the highest across the three he has played so far. Summer 2021 (80.9mph) and the 2021-22 winter in Australia (79.2mph) being the others.
“I don’t feel like too much is different,” said Robinson in his post-match press conference. “[I’m] still focusing on the same things – accuracy, bounce, bit of movement. The things we’ve noticed a little bit more is later on in the day, my pace has stayed more level compared to what it was maybe 12 months ago, which is something I’ve really worked on in the last three or four months. Those second, third and fourth spells, there’s a bit more intensity to them than maybe there was before.”
