“I don't think he's looked dangerous in the series at all" - Ricky Ponting on Ollie Robinson's lack of impact in the Ashes so far 

Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting feels that Ollie Robinson has not been a threat to the opposition batters in the ongoing Ashes series despite his evident skillset. The England pacer has claimed eight wickets across three innings so far, with the majority of it being Australia's tail batters.

Robinson took the crucial wicket of Marnus Labuschagne in the ongoing Lord's Test and finished with figures of 3-100 off 24.4 overs in the first innings. He has been in the spotlight since the beginning of the Ashes over his send-off to Usman Khawaja in the series opener, as well as his subsequent comments in the media.

Opining that Robinson's statistics have been spruced up with the wickets of tail batters in this series, Ponting said in the latest edition of the ICC Review:

"I don't think he's looked dangerous in the series at all. I mean, if you look at the wickets, he's got the tailenders out in each game. Yes he got Marnus (Labuschagne) in this innings here. But then he got (Nathan) Lyon and then he got (Josh) Hazlewood. So if he didn't get the 10 and 11 out, then he finishes his innings with one wicket at over four runs an over."

Further adding that there is no doubt over Robinson's skill and his off-field comments have been blown out of proportion, Ponting continued:

“He’s a very skilful bowler, no doubt about that, and no one would've said a word about Ollie Robinson if he hadn't have sort of instigated this whole tit-for-tat that's been happening over the last couple of weeks. And to be honest, I think the whole thing's been blown completely out of proportion."

Robinson had brought up Ponting's name while defending his aggressive send-off to Khawaja during the Edgbaston Test. The pacer was of the belief that the opposition should expect such outbursts in a competitive series like the Ashes and the overall saga seemingly came to a close when the involved parties had an honest conversation off the field.

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"At the end of the day, he's a skilled bowler" - Ricky Ponting defends Ollie Robinson's bowling ability

Ollie Robinson has largely been a constant entity in the England bowling attack ever since his return. The right-arm pacer missed out on the away series against West Indies and home series against New Zealand in 2022, before featuring in the home series against South Africa.

Admitting that Robinson's ability outweighs his insignificant off-field comments, Ponting said:

“It’s something that's everyone's enjoyed talking about, and some of the ex-players have enjoyed hopping in and having a bit of a crack, but at the end of the day he's a skilled bowler and, as you say, his numbers so far in the series are actually okay.”

Robinson is poised to play a huge role for England as the Ashes series continues. The pacer is also bound to be a key figure in the English red-ball bowling attack that is inevitably heading towards a transition.