Refreshed Robson Knows That Timing Is Everything

Adam Collins discovers that England’s ‘forgotten’ opener is ready to try a spot of queue jumping.

Sam Robson wintered well. It would have been understand able had he not after the story of his 2016 boiled down to a prized opportunity left untaken.

In the opening stanza of that season, the Middlesex opener couldn’t have done much more to earn an England recall. His account opened with 231 at Lord’s against Warwickshire, then another ton came in defiance of a full-strength Notts attack, before falling for 99 in their Somerset home fixture. He was flying.

With Alex Hales’ primacy as Alastair Cook’s Test partner never consolidated, and Robson’s county team-mate Nick Compton overwhelmed at No.3, the stars nearly aligned. But they didn’t. Selectors – then at least – stayed the course with the former and rejigged the middle order to replace the latter.

Robson’s season stalled before injury blunted it further. Then it spluttered out.

His final 12 Championship innings netted collectively only ten runs more than his first in April, averaging 20 through that period. His side’s triumph at Lord’s was profound, but Robson bagged himself a pair in the decider against Yorkshire.

When England’s touring squads were considered he had been overtaken by Ben Duckett, then Haseeb Hameed, and, finally, Keaton Jennings.

No one understands Robson’s predicament better than the man himself, who reflected on it with The Cricket Paper on the cusp of his 2017 campaign.