England handed major headache after Ollie Robinson injury ahead of second test against Black Caps

Sunday, 14 June 2026

Ollie Robinson is a major doubt for the second test against New Zealand, starting Wednesday night (NZT), after sustaining a knee injury in training, adding to the chaos surrounding England’s preparations.

Robinson is just one match into his comeback in test cricket and marked his return at Lord’s last week with a career-best seven for 77 in the match. But he was scheduled to go for a scan on Sunday (NZT) after complaining of pain in his knee following bowling practice on Friday.

It is the worst possible time for England to lose an experienced bowler with the team in turmoil following the dropping of Ben Stokes and Gus Atkinson. Stokes, who is expected to play for Durham during England’s test, trained with his county side on Saturday, batting in the nets.

Black Caps great Kane Williamson has confirmed his retirement from international cricket, effective immediately.

Robinson’s uncapped Sussex team-mate Henry Crocombe has been called up as cover for an attack already missing Stokes and Atkinson following their nightclub incident.

It all adds to the mess that is the England side at the moment. At 1-0 up against New Zealand, they can win the series at the Oval and the abrupt retirement of Kane Williamson does mean their opponents are weakened, but they are now looking at up to four changes from the team that won at Lord’s.

If Robinson is ruled out of the test, it will leave Joe Root, England’s stand-in captain, pressed into the role as an emergency replacement for Stokes, with an inexperienced attack on a pitch sure to be flatter than the seaming deck at Lord’s.

Jofra Archer will play despite no bowling in red ball cricket since the third Ashes test in December, coming in for Atkinson.

Stokes is likely to be replaced by an extra batsman with Robinson’s place probably going to Matthew Fisher, the Surrey seamer, who is liked by Brendon McCullum, the head coach. Sonny Baker will be in contention if England decide to go for four seamers and drop Shoaib Bashir.

Fisher is the closest like-for-like replacement for Robinson. He played one test in Barbados four years ago to little success on a very flat deck but came close to a recall in Sydney last winter. Baker is uncapped at test level.

The absence of Stokes, Atkinson and now Robinson weakens England’s tail, making it more likely they will pick the extra batsman. If they go with four seamers and drop a spinner, it leaves them with Archer batting at No 8, a place too high in the order.

England will be without Ben Stokes due to the nightclub incident in London after the first test.

It shows the problem of life without Stokes. The lack of a seam bowling all-rounder may well hinder the career of Bashir, who, like Jack Leach a few years ago, may find his number of test caps tallies with when the team have a seam bowling all-rounder available.

James Rew and Jordan Cox contest the No 6 or No 7 spot, depending on where Jamie Smith bats, with England leaning towards packing their batting. Cox finished with a double hundred on Saturday to emerge as a strong candidate despite skipping the early championship rounds because of the IPL.

Resuming on 184 not out, he finished with 204 for Essex against Leicestershire, possibly pushing him past Rew. It is a complex choice. Rew was named in the first Test squad and last summer against Zimbabwe, but Cox was chosen before him for the winter tour of New Zealand in 2024 and would have made his Test debut had he not suffered a broken thumb in the nets.

If they do want a spinner, Rehan Ahmed could bat at No 7 and he has just worked through 23 overs for Leicestershire against Essex, finishing with four for 102.

Robinson’s durability was always a concern. England believe he is in better condition than in previous incarnations as a test cricketer and the latest injury could be one of the occupational hazards of being a bowler, but it will raise eyebrows again.

In the past, Chris Woakes would have stepped up a place in the order in the absence of Stokes, but English cricket lacks seam bowling all-rounders. Sam Curran is not bowling at the moment for Surrey, which does not help.

Surrey rarely pick a specialist spinner, leaving it to batting all-rounders. England can call on Root and Jacob Bethell to do that role.