Paul Farbrace on Ollie Robinson’s Test squad miss: Other bowlers must be good to be in front of him

Robinson has been overlooked by the selectors for the first Test against the West Indies, which starts next week and will see Jimmy Anderson making his Test farewell.

Farbrace was asked about Robinson’s omission after he helped Sussex to their fifth County Championship win of the season, at Northampton, and the head coach said England’s decision was good news for the men from Hove.

“He's disappointed because he's been someone with an excellent record when he's played for England,” Farbrace said.

"We're delighted as a club that he's not been selected because he's playing for us. And the way he's bowled, other bowlers around the country must be good bowlers to be selected in front of him.

“It's a simple case of England wanting him to keep being consistent when he plays. He's been very consistent with us. The last month he's been outstanding, in red and white ball cricket. His attitude has has been spot on.

"He's trained well, practiced well, he's turned games for us as he did here (at Northampton) in the first innings. Perhaps got off to an ordinary start, didn't quite get his line right to the left handers, and then came back and blew them away and took four-fer and gave us a 47 run lead. And this morning his two vital wickets clicked the game our way. He set us up to push on to victory.

“In international cricket, England have got a lot of good players, they've made the call in terms of who they want to pick, and there's a lot of good players in and around the England team.

"But his record suggests he's a very good Test match bowler. And what he's shown us in county cricket has been excellent. So, we've got no complaints on that point of view.

"We don't pick the England team, that's up to Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes to pick who they think is the right selection. We all want England to do well, and I'm sure Ollie will be highly motivated to push himself back into selection again.

“We all have views and opinions on selections and players and who should play and who shouldn't play. But ultimately, the only two people that really matter are Ben and Brendon McCullum, and they pick what they think is right for England to win. It's a bit like us picking what we think is right. And there's one or two in our squad that probably feel they should be playing. That's the nature of sport and selection.”

Farbrace added: “His record suggests he's actually a very fine test match bowler. And he’s had an indifferent little period. A lot of sportspeople go through that. Stuart Broad and Jimmy Anderson have been through that themselves. I remember Alistair Cook going through tough periods where the media wanted him dropped, and various pundits were not very complimentary about him as a person.

"And that's happened to Broad, Anderson, it happens to all sports people. If you've got the courage to go out and play international sport, the one thing you have to put up with is the criticism that comes with it. You have to put up with people, beit journalists, beit pundits, whatever it might be, that want to get their articles read.

“The ultimate thing is he’s in a good place with us. He’s been fantastic with us. His attitude around us has been top class, we've got a really close-knit group of players and staff, and we all pull together and if someone's taking a bit of stick, we'll get behind them and help them out.

“But what I would say is what I've seen in this game, is a bloke who's run in and bowled exceptionally well. So, as I say, selection looks after itself.”