Stuart Broad played alongside Ollie Robinson before his retirement in 2023. Stuart Broad says he was surprised England decided to recall fast bowler Ollie Robinson for the first Test against New Zealand, which begins on 4 June. Robinson was dropped after the tour of India in 2024 but has been brought back into the squad for the Lord's match, England's first Test since a 4-1 Ashes defeat in Australia.

The 32-year-old has a superb Test record, with 76 wickets at an average of 22.92 from his 20 matches. He has often struggled for fitness and was hit by back problems in each of his two most recent appearances – against India in Ranchi two years ago and against Australia at Headingley in 2023. However, with Jofra Archer unavailable until the second Test because of his Indian Premier League commitments, and with Mark Wood (knee) and Brydon Carse (broken wrist) ruled out through injury, England have turned to Robinson.

"I was a little bit surprised," said Broad, speaking on his For The Love of Cricket podcast. "There must have been a turnaround – I think Robbo said at the start of the summer there'd been a bit of contact [with England].

"I suppose the confusing thing for me is, if he's good enough to open the bowling on 4 June against New Zealand at Lord's, which he is – he's a brilliant bowler – why was he not at the Ashes?"

"He'd have bowled Australia out for 30 at the MCG with how much that pitch moved. It feels like a complete waste to not use him over the winter in Australia if suddenly he's now available and able to be used at Lord's."

Robinson one of best bowlers in the world - Key Gough questions England's appointment of North. When Robinson was recalled, England director of cricket Rob Key said he looked "back up to his full fitness". "When you look at his record he is one of the bowlers right up there statistically, among all the bowlers, of all time," Key added.

Robinson has started the season well with Sussex, captaining them to three wins out of six games in the County Championship and taking 18 wickets at 26.27. However, Broad, who took 604 Test wickets, said he is intrigued why Robinson has been recalled now having seemingly fallen out of favour with head coach Brendon McCullum and captain Ben Stokes.

"I'd love to know what the turnaround has been – has he suddenly improved his fitness or improved his attitude because he was never left out because of performance," said Broad. "Not that these guys have ever said this to me, I thought McCullum and Stokes had lost faith and lost trust and that was the end of that.

"I suppose it's probably a case of who else will take the new ball? The new-ball bowling in the Ashes was awful and they need a new-ball bowler. There's no doubt Ollie is the best new-ball bowler available to England in the country at the moment. He has amazing ability to get the new ball to talk and he gets bounce.

"Rob Key said he's a world-class bowler at 82-83mph and the test for Robinson is if that 82-83mph stays over three Tests and for every spell without him going off or missing sessions. Not many bowlers get another chance when you have been written off for character and attitude."

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