Nasser Hussain on "ballistic" WhatsApp group chat as Ollie Robinson called out Ricky Ponting
Sky Sports expert Nasser Hussain lifts the lid on what happened when Ollie Robinson dragged Ricky Ponting into the Ashes sledging debate.
Nasser Hussain has revealed how a quiet night out with a curry after a hard day's work came to a swift end when Ollie Robinson decided to drag Australia legend Ricky Ponting into the debate around his Ashes sledging antics.
Robinson appeared to launch a tirade in the direction of Usman Khawaja after dismissing the Aussie batter during the first Ashes Test of the summer, leading to much debate over the incident.
Speaking to reporters about the moment last week, Robinson said: "We've all seen Ricky Ponting, other Aussies do the same to us. Just because the shoe is on the other foot, it's not received well."
Sky Sports expert Hussain revealed to RadioTimes.com what happened after Robinson's "amazing" decision to double down and reference Ponting, who is working for Sky this summer, into the issue.
He said: "What's been amazing is how [Robinson] sort of doubled down on it in the press conference and brought Ricky into it – out of all the Australians you could mention, he brought up Ricky! Which obviously, Ricky working with us at Sky, the WhatsApp group went absolutely ballistic that evening.
"He was staying at The Belfry, we were having a curry somewhere in Birmingham and the to-ing and fro-ing with Ricky Ponting was hilarious.
"It is the Ashes and once you have a go at Ricky, then [Justin] Langer, [Matthew] Hayden, they all start piping up. It is Ashes cricket at its best, really.
"I personally think there's probably been a bit too much said off the field. The England media manager probably just needs to keep an eye on Robinson, take him out of the limelight a little bit. Otherwise, it's a long series and you're just putting yourself under pressure for the rest of it."
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Nasser has interviewed some of the greatest leaders in sport, including Jurgen Klopp, Ben Stokes, Emma Hayes, Totto Wolff and Christian Horner.
The documentary explores multiple themes, from dealing with mavericks to implementing a top-to-bottom culture of success – whist providing an intimate look into what makes some of the most well-known sport stars and teams standout above the rest.
Hussain told RadioTimes.com: "I didn't leave any of those 12 interviews thinking there was a bit of bluffing, I left every single one going: "Wow, I would like to have either worked for or played for this individual. All of them."
"There were a lot of common threads throughout the documentary, but with hugely different personalities. You couldn't have two more different personalities than Toto Wolff and Christian Horner! Hugely different, but all very successful.
"There was authenticity, they all used the word authentic. They were authentic as leaders – what they say, they did. There was no bluff, there was no hiding, they were true to themselves and true to their team.
"They're all very much about the people that they hire and looking after the people that they hire, but also hiring people not just on how many goals they scored, or runs they got, but on their character."
Despite the issue dominating most of the headlines since the first Test, Hussain is keen to ensure that raw emotions are not outlawed from the game and that context is required before judging a player's actions.
He said: "I don't think you should ever forget what it's like to be that person in the middle, in a Test match playing for your country and the pressures and the heat and the emotion and everything that's going on around you.
"I don't think you should ever take emotion out of sport, like when I backed up Kagiso Rabada in Port Elizabeth when he was fined for being right in the face of Joe Root, celebrating the Joe Root wicket... although I don't like the send-offs batters get. Once you've got someone out you've done your job, really."
The Ashes 2nd Test begins on Wednesday 28th June live on Sky Sports.
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Authors
Michael Potts is the Sport Editor for Radio Times, covering all of the biggest sporting events across the globe with previews, features, interviews and more. He has worked for Radio Times since 2019 and previously worked on the sport desk at Express.co.uk after starting his career writing features for What Culture. He achieved a first-class degree in Sports Journalism in 2014.
