England appear to have claimed victory in the first Ashes battle of the summer, with sought-after Sydney-born batsman Sam Robson picked in a Lions development squad on Monday.
Robson, whose mother was born in Nottingham, has been caught in a tug-of-war battle between the rival nations for his services after plundering runs in the Country Championship.
It Robson’s first callup to a national squad, having only qualified for England in August after playing county cricket for Middlesex since 2009.
The 24-year-old is the second-highest runscorer in Division One of the County Championship, scoring 1,180 runs at an average of 47.2.
His eye-catching form this year, coupled with Australia’s far-from-settled Test batting lineup, prompted calls to try and woo the former Australia and NSW under-19s player back home.
Previous attempts were stymied by Robson’s desire to continue playing county cricket, where he sparked his career after being stuck behind a glut of batsman as a teenager in the NSW system.
This, in part, resulted in Cricket Australia relaxing their domestic qualification regulations, allowing dual-nations to appear as a domestic-qualified player in more than one country – believed to be a rule designed specifically to allow Robson to play Sheffield Shield cricket while not giving up his county commitments.
But the attempts appear to have fallen short following Robson’s selection in the `Performance Programme’, a shadow squad which will tour Australia during the Ashes, which start with the Gabba Test on November 21.
It means that Robson could be called on by England coach Andy Flower should form or injury require change to a very settled top order.
England’s 17-man Test squad for the Ashes, also named on Monday, contained few surprises other than the omission of experienced batsman Nick Compton, with the uncapped Gary Ballance and top order specialist Michael Carberry preferred.
“He’s played very well for Yorkshire so it’s not a left-field selection, it’s considered,” England national selector Geoff Miller said of Ballance.
Reliable seamer Graham Onions could also be considered unlucky, with selectors opting for towering quick Chris Tremlett instead, while controversial offspinner Monty Panesar has been included as back-up to Graeme Swann.
HardcorePrawn
Roar Guru
I take it you've never visited a pub in London then? You'd be hard-pressed to find a non-Australian to serve you, after you'd got past the Kiwi doormen that is...
ChrisUK
Guest
Bitter much?
Silver_Sovereign
Guest
If he would rather be English than Australian, they can have him. I don't know of any individual on earth who would rather be English and live there other than him
ChrisUK
Guest
Ohhhh, that's below the belt Peter... (Robson is anything but a shoo-in to play for England anyway).
ChrisUK
Guest
Ronan, were they ever asked how that came about that they apparently were unaware? And did they ever answer?
Ronan O'Connell
Expert
Nah Bertie cricinfo reported about 2 months ago that CA had only recently become aware he was eligible to play for Aus despite the fact he's a former u/19 player...they were clueless.
ChrisUK
Guest
That's because human beings are different, and have different motivations. It's as simple as that.
Bertie
Guest
James "prefers england. being born somewhere is great but if anyone has english parents as i do you grow up with a knowledge that those whos parents are both australian may not have. i have lived most my life in australia but i much prefer england. at the end of the day we are trying to draw conclusions without knowing anything about robson really. he chose england and there has not seemed any doubt coming from him for a number of years that he would choose england." What knowledge? Knowledge is the wrong word. Connection/affinity/mentality are better descriptions of what you're talking about. Actually I've known people in Australia and Japan (expats of Anglophone countries) with no connection whatsoever to the UK who seem as British as the British. They are obsessed with Britain, and understand its culture and manifest (supposedly) British characteristics, like reticence, aloofness and scepticism, to the extent that British people do. And they have no connection with the UK. So it's not something that is necessarily gained through parentage, although it can also be gained through parentage. On the other hand, the majority of people I've known in Australia with British parents seem to lack these traits and this affinity. Some have it, sure. Some, with no British parents or grandparents, have it. But most don't. Some people have a connection, or way of thinking, that is almost American.
Bertie
Guest
Ronan O'Connell "No CA only recently became aware Robson was even eligible to play for Australia, as reported on cricinfo a few months back. Bizarre." Not really all that bizarre. CA knew Robson was eligible to play for Australia (because he was born in Australia and played for Australia U19s). So that wasn't the issue. They knew all about him. They do keep tabs on the County Championship. The issue was... CA is loathe to pick anybody who hasn't played a game of Sheffield Shield cricket before. It serves as the platform to Test cricket. And Robson hasn't played a game in the Shield. Even now they're not saying they'll put him straight in the Test squad, or even the NSW Shield squad. They're saying that they'll put him in the Futures tournament and if he does well there he will be available for selection for the NSW Shield squad. The problem has been that, until these recent and sensible changes by CA, it has not been possible to play in the Shield and the County Championship. And while Robson has had no desire of losing his place at Middlesex, he hasn't been able to play in the Shield. Ergo, he has always been technically available to play for Australia, but protocol has meant that CA have needed to improve the rules for him to really have any opportunity of playing for Australia.
JimmyB
Guest
Aakash, you need to be careful with some of the phrases you use, you also need to stop talking rubbish. You sound incredibly ignorant, time for you to think before you type methinks.
Spooky
Guest
Robson not wanting to play for Oz, must be delirious caused by vitamin D deficiency.
Spooky
Guest
trev
Guest
Good article on the kiwi boy going on the Ashes tour http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/cricket/9204742/Stoked-Kiwi-kid-joins-England-for-Ashes-tour
Aakash bhat
Guest
Dont forget there are indians and paki too playing for england.
Peter
Roar Rookie
His comments today suggest he won't be playing for Australia. Hopefully he'll become the next Alan Mullally.
Disco
Roar Guru
Pattinson was liberally being described as "world class" in between the India and England tours.
Disco
Roar Guru
And Siddle was dropped after the 2010/11 series.
Disco
Roar Guru
Onions is a strike bowler. I'd have had him in the Test side for the whole northern summer.
Disco
Roar Guru
Spot on, Jimmy.
Disco
Roar Guru
Whinge, whinge, whinge.