England Pacer Stuart Broad addressed the Ollie Robinson-Usman Khawaja controversy in a detailed column before the Second Ashes Test.
Veteran pacer Stuart Broad wrote in detail about the incident in his Daily Mail column, criticising Ponting and Matthew Hayden for their comments on Robinson.
Broad wrote, “A lot more has been made of words on the field between Ollie Robinson and Usman Khawaja than ought to have been, to be honest. Ultimately, the ICC had no problem with Ollie’s reaction to dismissing Khawaja in the first innings, and I didn’t like Matthew Hayden’s disparaging comments about him.
He further said, “Ollie averages 21 with the ball in Test cricket over a decent amount of time and bowls in a very similar way to Glenn McGrath. Yes, there was a bit of emotion on the field, but off it, we are obviously seeing the Australian guys in the pavilion corridors all the time, eating lunch in the same room, and we enjoyed a nice-natured week.
“Now a couple of expletives the other way, and everyone is piling in. Where are we going with this?”
On Ponting’s remarks, Broad stated that the former captain of the Australian team was a big sledger,” but Robinson didn’t mean to direct his aim at Ponting.
He further said, “Ricky Ponting had a bit of a nibble because Robbo brought his name into things during a press conference, but not because Ricky was a huge sledger. Ollie had a bit of a blank mind; Ricky Ponting was the most famous ex-Aussie cricketer he could think of, and that Australia team he played in was hardly full of shrinking violets, so the hoo-ha that was created surprised us.
Continuing his statement, he said that “I’m sure it’ll die down pretty quickly, though, because with the teams getting on so well, it’s a little bit of an irrelevance.”
