How Ollie Robinson’s sledging of Australia’s tail backfired as Lyon starred in Ashes first Test win

Fiery England bowler Ollie Robinson’s criticism of Australia‘s lower-order batters blew up in his face as Nathan Lyon combined with skipper Pat Cummins to pull off one of the greatest Ashes Test wins ever seen on Tuesday.

The paceman took a swipe at the tourists at stumps on day three at Edgbaston, saying England felt their opponents had a weakness that could be exploited after the Aussies’ three tailenders were dismissed for a total of just two runs.  

‘It’s something we’ve spoken about as a group – we’ve said that once we get past [Pat] Cummins, we feel like they’ve got three No.11’s,’ he said, referring to Lyon, Scott Boland and Josh Hazlewood.

Robinson was probably wishing he could take those words back after Lyon (16 not out) combined with Cummins (44 not out) to steer the men in baggy green to one of the most thrilling Ashes Test wins in memory.

Lyon’s 16 not out was the most important innings of his career as he and Pat Cummins combined to lead the Aussies to a win for the ages before celebrating wildly (pictured)

Ollie Robinson – who became the villain of the first Test for Aussie fans – had earlier dismissed Australia’s tailenders, saying the tourists were carrying ‘three No.11’s’

The 29-year-old also drew heavy criticism from Aussie fans for celebrating his first-innings dismissal of Usman Khawaja by telling the batter to ‘f**k off, you f**king pr**k’.

Robinson insisted that the slur was tame given the history of sledges sent back-and-forth between players from both nations over the years, while Khawaja himself appeared unbothered by the incident.

The pair clashed again on the final day’s play, exchanging words during the drinks break.

According to Sky Sports, Khawaja was heard saying: ‘What did you say, mate?’

Robinson responded: ‘I don’t know what you’re on about.’

Veteran bowler Jimmy Anderson, noticing the pair engaged in back-and-forth, stepped in to intervene.

Cummins declared the triumph ‘the number one’ moment of his career after his unbeaten 44 steered his side to a monumental victory on Tuesday.

Robinson had a second run-in with Usman Khawaja in Australia’s second innings after making headlines when he gave the batter a foul-mouthed spray after taking his wicket in the first 

You little bloody ripper! Cummins couldn’t contain his delight after taking his team to a win he called the number-one moment of his career

The Aussie skipper said Lyon was ‘really chilled’ during their run chase despite the immense pressure they were under

Chasing 281 for victory, Australia had looked out of the Test when they slumped to 8-227 early in the final hour once the dismissals of Usman Khawaja and Alex Carey looked to have ruined their chances.

But Cummins then took charge, putting on a 55-run stand with Nathan Lyon to take Australia to the most thrilling victory with 4.3 overs left in the match.

It was nail-biting stuff, with Cummins admitting: ‘When we got to maybe 16 to win and we needed two an over, I was pretty confident but it felt like almost from the first session of day one, it was 50-50 all the way along until about 15 minutes to go.

‘For me, it’s number one – the start of an Ashes series. Yeah, the number one.’

Cummins sealed victory when he guided an Ollie Robinson ball down to the third-man boundary and Harry Brook spilled it over the rope.

Lyon’s 16 was undoubtedly the most valuable innings of his long career.

‘Nath was awesome, he was really chilled – he was pretty talkative out there. It helped me out and it helped him,’ said Cummins.