Even though Darren Gough has no reservations about Ollie Robinson’s ability with the new ball, the former England pacer feels that the Sussex seamer has been made to look like an all-time great by bowler-friendly pitches.
Armed with the new ball, Robinson kickstarted England’s Test summer by running through New Zealand’s top order at Lord’s in June. Capping off an incredible home season against Pakistan at Edgbaston, Robinson finished with 21 wickets as Joe Root’s England recorded a comfortable 3-0 series win this month.
Despite the rain gods making their presence felt, only two of England’s six home Tests reached day five this season. Only on four occasions did a team manage to breach the 400-run barrier in a single innings on English pitches.
‘You only have to look around Test cricket, and a lot of the games are finishing in three days. The pitches have become very bowler-friendly, which is a shame. You go back to Test cricket 10-15 years ago when the pitches were hard and flat, and you had to really bowl out the opposition,’ Gough tells Daily Mail Sport.
‘I made a joke of it, but James Anderson and Stuart Broad – it has cost them (retiring), probably 100 wickets each on their totals. These last two years, so many Test matches have finished in three days or just after. It’s ridiculous.’
Robinson, who admitted he was ‘nowhere near ready for the Ashes’, recorded the fifth-best bowling average in a series of three Tests or more against Pakistan. The 32-year-old also became only the third English seamer to reach 100 Test wickets at an average under 20 this season.
Ollie Robinson averages just 19.25 after a stellar summer which saw him torment Pakistan
Having gone past the likes of Jasprit Bumrah and Pat Cummins, Robinson now boasts the best bowling average (19.25) of any bowler with 100 or more Test wickets in the last 100 years. ‘Robinson’s been made to look like Curtly Ambrose,’ Gough adds. ‘And he’s a good bowler, but he’s been made to look like he is one of the best bowlers of all time on these pitches that we’ve had this year so far in the Pakistan Tests. And the one at Lord’s earlier (against New Zealand) in the year as well.’
England’s fifth-highest wicket-taker across formats, Gough also voiced his dismay at Headingley being overlooked for next year’s Ashes. ‘I played alongside a lot of great players for England,’ he says. ‘They would all say: Lord’s, Edgbaston, and Headingley. So those three Test venues are favourites to the players. Nothing’s changed from my day, from the people I know. We always play good cricket on these pitches. And it’s a real shame’.
After Warwickshire sparked a fierce backlash by raising the price of Ashes tickets from £115 to £165 in Edgbaston’s Hollies Stand, Gough warned that cricket is in danger of following football down an expensive path. ‘I think my problem with cricket – I experienced it when I was growing up, in under-14s and 15s. I think it is an elitist sport, and it still does have that, and it carries that on with the pricing for some of the matches,’ Gough says.
‘Is it affordable? No. £170 for a day of cricket is a lot of money. And it’s not affordable, is it? If you were to go in there with a few mates, it makes it a very expensive day on top of drinking, food while you’re in there, and travel; you’re looking at a £250 day,’ he added.
‘So, this is expensive, not affordable. Football’s gone that way, and cricket’s going exactly the same route. You would think, with them just making millions and millions of pounds after selling the Hundred. The prices would remain the same, but naah – not to be…It’s an Ashes year, and it’s the strongest series England have, and that’s where they make all the money.’
England are entering another World Cup cycle, with Kevin Pietersen installed as specialist batting mentor, and captain Harry Brook has already propelled Brendon McCullum’s men to No. 1 position in the T20I rankings.
Darren Gough took 229 wickets in 58 Test matches for England
Attention this week turns to the ODI series against Sri Lanka, where Brook’s side will look to dominate again. Having finished the Test summer without a century, Brook blasted an unbeaten 114 from 49 balls in the T20I opener. Gough, who welcomed Pietersen’s return to the England camp, has rallied behind Brook to keep playing his current brand of cricket.
‘Brook is an enormous talent, and when you get talking about the brand of cricket England play, I have no problem with Brook playing that way. But he’s the only one who should be playing that way in all formats,’ Gough said.
‘The rest have to play their natural game, wherever that may be; Brook can carry on playing like that for me. He averages 50-odd in Test and ODI cricket; he looks the real deal. So, I’ve no problem with Harry Brook being Harry Brook.’
As Brook has been joined by Yorkshire teammates Joe Root and Adil Rashid in the ODI squad for the Sri Lanka series, Gough is quick to observe that Yorkshire are no longer flooding the England team.
‘It’s not as many as it used to be. We’ve always had a strong outing in the England side, but I think it’s where we are as a county, isn’t it? Yorkshire has struggled in the last few years, and the players are just not coming through now,’ Gough says.
‘We had that golden period in my era where we had myself, Craig White, Richard Blakey, Martyn Moxon, Ryan Sidebottom and Matthew Hoggard, and all these players that play for England. And then you had the Ballance, Root, Bairstow era. And then all those guys like Michael Vaughan, but we seem to be not having as big an effect on the England team as we used to.’
Gough feels all-rounders George Hill and Matt Revis have potential, but both still have plenty of improving to do as Yorkshire hunt for their next big Tyke. ‘One player I have always liked as a cricketer is George Hill. But in the current mould of England, it probably doesn’t fit the bill they’re after. England are after bowlers that bowl at 84 miles an hour. George is a very skilful bowler,’ Gough explained.
Gough thinks Harry Brook deserves licence to play ultra-attacking cricket
‘He would be a fourth seamer for England, not in the top three seamers, but he only bowls in the late 70s. I would like to see him get a few more runs. I have kind of been disappointed with the lack of runs the last few years. He’s a terrific player,’ adds Gough, who also captained Yorkshire for two seasons.
‘And Revis, he’s the opposite. I think his batting’s really, really good. His bowling just needs to improve; it’s been the same question for Revis the last few years. He just needs to step up his bowling, and he’s another top-quality cricketer.’
Beyond the two familiar all-rounders, Gough also said young Will Bennison may soon be knocking on the selectors’ door. ‘Will’s a good player. he was a lot younger when I was there. Always been highly thought of as a cricketer,’ Gough recalls.
‘England U-19s now. He is doing well for the under-19s; he got his chance for Yorkshire in the Metro Bank. And yeah, he did well. There aren’t many players in our 1st team in Yorkshire getting runs. So, he’s got to be knocking down the door. He must be pretty close,’ he concluded.
