London, May 27 (IANS) England pace bowler Ollie Robinson’s cricket career suffered another setback after the 28-year-old pulled out of the County Select XI warm-up game against New Zealand with back spasm.
The injury scare is the latest in the list of fitness issues the cricketer has had since December last year when he was forced off the field in the first and third Ashes Tests due to hamstring strains, according to dailymail.co.uk.
The report said on Friday that Robinson was suffering from stiffness in his back while warming up.
Robinson then missed the drawn fourth Test in Sydney with shoulder issues, and while he bowled fiery spells to get rid of David Warner and Steve Smith in the fifth and final Ashes Test, he suffered back spasm.
The same back issue came back to haunt the pacer again before the three-Test tour of the Caribbean and the then England skipper Joe Root had said that it was “frustrating” both for him and the bowler.
“Ollie felt a bit of stiffness in his back while he was warming up this morning (Thursday) before the game,” said Richard Dawson, the County Select XI coach.
“We had a chat and felt as a precaution it was sensible for him to sit out this match. We will assess him and move forward from there,” he added.
Robinson pulling out of the tour game is another setback for the injury-hit England pace battery. Six bowlers, including Jofra Archer, Olly Stone, Saqib Mahmood, Matt Fisher and Tom and Sam Curran, have been ruled out because of stress fractures, while Mark Wood has an elbow injury.
The opening Test of the three-match series against touring New Zealand begins at Lord’s on June 2.
–IANS
akm/
