Robinson casts doubts aside
Kent’s Ollie Robinson admitted he had doubts over his batting following a slow start to the season.
The wicketkeeper made a third successive half-century in Kent’s County Championship Division 1 draw with Surrey at Beckenham last week.
But those relative riches are a far cry from a tough opening few weeks with the bat that saw Robinson score just 66 runs in his first five knocks of the summer.
He made 58 and 85 not out in the draw at Yorkshire and top scored with 71 against Surrey.
“It was obviously a tough start to the year but it’s nice to finally find a bit of form,” said Robinson.
“It’s a strange one as I never really felt like I was out of form, I was just without runs.
“Every time I batted, I still felt confident, I guess it’s the first time I’ve really doubted myself in the first three games and I had to prove to myself again that I can do it so it’s a nice feeling.”
Robinson hit five boundaries in his 147-ball knock against Surrey.
“I didn’t feel that good but it was one of them where you just grind it out,” he reflected. “It was one of those situations where runs weren’t the objective for me, it was taking time out of the game and see what happens.
“It was a bit of a grind, you’re not always going to feel fluent and it wasn’t one of those days but I’m pretty happy with it, just disappointed to get out at the end.”
Robinson’s half-century led Kent’s recovery from a perilous position at 125-6 against a star-studded Surrey side.
Rain on the final day ensured it was enough to salvage a draw.
“It’s not ideal, we looked at the game as a chance to win but it’s happened now,” he said. “There was a lot of spin from Will Jacks to be fair, it was spinning and bouncing quite a lot, when the ball was softer it didn’t do as much.
“They put it in the right place and were very patient and made us throw a punch back at them. They always looked to score off us and found that quite easy at times whereas it’s been more of a challenge for us to score runs.”
Kent visit Northamptonshire today (Thursday) in the County Championship still looking for their first win of the season.