Ollie Robinson’s England career is in tatters – he was the next Stuart Broad

Despite an impressive overall record, Ollie Robinson is not currently part of England's plans - Shutterstock/John Mallett

There was a time when Ollie Robinson was the new Stuart Broad. Now he is out of the Test frame, with the trust of the England management lost and probably never to return.

A bowler who had, at times, nosed ahead of Broad in the pecking order, taking the new ball off him at one point, was absent from the first home Test squad named in the post Anderson-Broad era. He was not even the closest Ollie Robinson to selection either, with his namesake Durham wicketkeeper pushing Jamie Smith for Ben Foakes’s place.

It is a squad picked with eyes firmly fixed on Australia next year and Robinson cannot be relied upon to be robust enough for an assignment that will define the Bazball era.

This time, it feels like a permanent decision rather than the kick up the backside Robinson has had before. England tried that last year when, amid a raft of multi-year central contracts, Robinson was handed a 12-month deal while younger bowlers were signed up for longer. It was designed to cajole him into getting the message. It fell on deaf ears.

As things stand, Robinson’s last act for England will be the Ranchi Test in March. His pace dipped below 70mph, he bowled six no balls, was bothered by a back strain, missed a crucial catch as India fought back and sent down just 13 overs in the game. Ben Stokes did not trust him in the second innings when England had to defend 192 to stay alive in the series.

Robinson performed better with the bat than ball in Ranchi - AFP/Tauseef Mustafa

After the match was lost, it is understood Brendon McCullum reiterated to the group that if you look after the team, the team looks after the individual. It was deemed a pointed reference to Robinson, who had pulled up lame in another Test match, despite arriving in India primed and saying he was fitter than ever before.

It is a huge waste of talent: 76 Test wickets from 20 games at 22.92 and the skills to bowl on any surface, combined with a seam bowler’s mean streak and willingness to wind up opponents, should have resulted in a good Test career.

Robinson missed the first four Tests of the Bazball era but clawed back trust. He had been singled out for criticism on the previous winter’s Ashes tour for his fitness and it took a phone call from Stokes to shake him to his senses. “That’s probably fair, and I also didn’t have a choice,” Robinson said last year. “I had an honest conversation with Stokesy. He was brutally honest. He said you haven’t played enough, you haven’t backed up enough, and I think the penny dropped then. You have to be at the top of your game to get in the team. That was the moment for me when I felt I can’t keep coasting, I can’t keep relying on my skill, I have to put something else in to be a world-class cricketer and be as good as I can be for a long time.”

He went to Pakistan on the first Stokes tour and bowled superbly on flat wickets but fitness issues reared up again in the Ashes last summer and Robinson limped out of the third Test at Headingley with another back spasm, again casting doubt on his reliability in a crucial match.

He was given another chance when he was picked for India after convincing England he was back in the gym, working on his fitness. They held back until the fourth Test. He started with a 50 but as the game wore on, his performance dipped.

Robinson was accompanied for the majority of the tour by his new partner, a social media influencer. He launched a podcast with her while in India, which laid him open to suggestions he was distracted from the main job of getting fit and ready to play a Test match in the toughest of conditions.

Compare his attitude to Stokes, who pushed his body to the limit to recover far quicker than expected from knee surgery to return as a bowling all-rounder, setting an example to others.

Dropping Robinson was a decision made a couple of weeks ago and nothing to do with the record 43 he conceded off an over last week for Sussex against Leicestershire. Dillon Pennington, Matthew Potts and Gus Atkinson were picked for the first Test against West Indies ahead of Robinson, and, when he is fit, Essex’s Sam Cook will be higher up the pecking order, too.

The decision sends a message to other players. Stokes and McCullum are loyal and work hard on building the culture within the team but their patience and support lasts only so long.

For years, Test squad announcements have been fairly mundane, the chopping and changing a thing of the past. Dropping Robinson, Ben Foakes, Jack Leach and Jonny Bairstow just weeks after telling Anderson it was time to retire is the shake- up that launches the next Ashes challenge.

Robinson should have been in the mix but he blew that in Ranchi.

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