Ollie Pope has backed teammate Ollie Robinson to “let the ball do the talking” when the Second Ashes Test gets underway at Lord’s on Wednesday.
Robinson sparked the series’ first controversy with his expletive-laden send-off of Australia batter Usman Khawaja on the third day of the tourists’ two-wicket victory at Edgbaston.
After dismissing Khawaja for 141, Robinson was caught on camera the opener to “F*** off, you f****** p****” and while the incident was largely shrugged off by both sets of players, the Sussex seamer came in for heavy criticism in the Australian press.
Australia greats Ricky Ponting and Matthew Hayden were both unimpressed by Robinson’s antics, the latter labelling him a “forgettable cricketer” who bowls “nude nuts”.
FINALLY! Ollie Robinson with the breakthrough for England ⚡
— Sky Sports (@SkySports) June 18, 2023
Usman Khawaja goes for a sensational 141 🙌🔥pic.twitter.com/huIVzuNTdC
Speaking ahead of the Second Test, however, England’s vice-captain Pope claimed the scrutiny would be water off a duck’s back 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 said. “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 also suggested Moeen Ali will be fit to keep his place in the side after struggling with blistering to his spinning finger on his Test return at Edgbaston.
The all-rounder bowled in nets as England began training at Lord’s on Monday morning, with teenage leggie Rehan Ahmed also part of the squad having been called up as cover.
“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.
The significance of this Second Test, then, is clear, but Pope insists England will not be inhibited by their predicament.
"Absolutely not,” Pope said. “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.”
