112 years later! Robinson enters rarest Test bowling club with sub-19 average

England's Ollie Robinson celebrates taking the wicket of Pakistan's Saim Ayub. (Reuters Photo)

NEW DELHI: Ollie Robinson has entered one of Test cricket’s most exclusive statistical clubs, becoming the first bowler in more than a century to boast a bowling average below 19 after playing at least 20 matches.Robinson’s two wickets in the first innings of the ongoing third Test against Pakistan at Edgbaston took his career tally to 104 wickets from 24 Tests, with his average dropping to 18.86. The England seamer is now the first bowler since Sydney Barnes in 1914 to achieve a sub-19 average while meeting the 20-Test cut-off.

Barnes finished his Test career with 189 wickets from 27 matches at an extraordinary average of 16.43. His career ended in 1914, meaning Robinson’s achievement comes 112 years after the last bowler to meet the benchmark.The rarity of Robinson’s numbers becomes clearer when the cut-off is applied. Only six bowlers in Test history have averaged below 20 after playing at least 20 Tests. Four of them are from England’s early Test era, while the other two are Robinson and India’s Jasprit Bumrah.

Robinson joins an elite list

Billy Barnes leads the list with an average of 15.54 from 21 Tests, having taken 51 wickets. Sydney Barnes follows at 16.43, with 189 wickets in 27 Tests, while Bobby Peel averaged 16.98 from 20 Tests after taking 101 wickets.

Johnny Briggs is fourth with 118 wickets from 33 Tests at an average of 17.75.Robinson now occupies fifth place on the list with 104 wickets at 18.86 from 24 Tests. Bumrah is sixth, having taken 234 wickets from 52 Tests at 19.79.

Best Test Bowling Average (Min. 20 Tests)

Robinson’s latest landmark came during a dominant spell against Pakistan at Edgbaston. After England posted a huge total, the pacer struck twice in Pakistan’s second innings before rain interrupted play.He removed Saim Ayub with the very first ball of the innings, before dismissing Abdullah Shafique with his fourth delivery. Pakistan were reduced to 0-2 before Shan Masood and Azan Awais steadied the innings.The first-ball dismissal was itself a notable feat. Robinson became only the fifth bowler in Test history to take a wicket with the first delivery of an innings twice in a series. India’s Zaheer Khan last achieved the feat against Bangladesh in 2007, while Bill Voce was the previous Englishman to do so, against Australia in 1937.

England lead the three-Test series 2-0 and are now firmly in position to complete a clean sweep. But amid the dominance, it was Robinson’s remarkable bowling numbers that provided the standout statistical story at Edgbaston — putting his name alongside some of the greatest wicket-takers of the early Test era.