Ollie casts the doubts aside

RO BINSON BOUNCES BACK

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.

Runs were easy to come by for the away side but Robinson, while never fluent, had to battle it out against an excellent attack.

“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 starstudded 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,” said Robinson.

“We’re disappointed not to get more first innings but we showed a lot of fight.

“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.

“They bowled beautifully and got a lot out of the pitch so fair play to them.”

Kent visit Northamptonshire from today (Thursday) in the County Championship still looking for their first win of the season.

All-rounder Grant Stewart (hamstring) returns while Marcus O’riordan and left-arm spinner James Logan travel as part of the 13-strong squad.

Nathan Gilchrist is ruled out with a minor injury and Matt Milnes and Joe Denly are rested.

Picture: Keith Gillard Ollie Robinson on his way to an impressive 71 for Kent against Surrey at Beckenham