Neil Robertson booed by UK Championship crowd at York Barbican after appearing to mock England cricket with Ashes hopes hanging in the balance
Published 06/12/2025 at 15:53 GMT
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Fans of England cricket who woke up early on Saturday morning to take in the second Test of the Ashes in Brisbane were left feeling a little numb as the tourists were put to the sword by Australia. Snooker great Neil Robertson appeared to be up to speed with proceedings at The Gabba as the Australian seemed to mock the England team during his walk-on at the UK Championship.
Robertson booed by crowd after mocking England cricket
Video credit: TNT Sports
Neil Robertson appeared to mock England’s floundering cricketers during his walk-on at the UK Championship, and was booed by a section of the crowd at the York Barbican.
England have made a poor start to the NRMA Insurance men’s Ashes series, being crushed in the first Test in Perth and staring down the barrel of defeat in the second match of the series in Brisbane.
As well as being a great of snooker, Robertson is a fan of a host of sports.
His support for Chelsea and love of golf are well documented, and it would appear he has had an eye on the Ashes in his native Australia.
After being introduced to the crowd ahead of his semi-final, Robertson played a series of cricket shots with his snooker case - all with a huge grin on his face.
Good-natured booing came from the crowd - as Robertson told referee Ben Williams: "I was not going to do it. I nearly didn’t do it."
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Highlights: England collapse as dominant Australia close in on victory in second Test
Video credit: TNT Sports
After his semi-final opponent Judd Trump entered the arena, referee Williams delayed the start of the match as the players had not been provided with towels.
On commentary for TNT Sports, Neal Foulds said: "I would not have given a towel to Neil Robertson anyway after that walk-on where he mocked English cricket, I think.
"I would have left him with no towel, no drink, nothing."
Foulds’ co-commentator David Hendon added: "There is a lot to mock at the moment, so you can’t blame him."
While Robertson is looking to power on at the UK Championship, England’s hopes in Brisbane are hanging by a thread.
At stumps on the third day at The Gabba, the tourists were still trailing by 43 runs, having lost six wickets in their second innings.
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Much of their hopes rest on the shoulders of captain Ben Stokes, who is four not out, and batting coach Marcus Trescothick said all is not lost for England.
"Yes, we're behind but we've got to come out tomorrow and try to find a position where we can get a partnership going with the last few wickets and get a total on the board that we can maybe have a little dart at," Trescothick said. "The guys are disappointed but we're trying to remain focused on how we can win.
"Obviously, it's not quite operating as we need to at the moment. They've been better than us today and dominated and put us under a lot of pressure."
Should England go on and lose the second Test, that would leave them 2-0 down in the five-match series.
Given Australia are the current holders of the Ashes, England would need to win the final three matches in Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney to reclaim the urn.
Win or lose against Trump in York on Saturday, Robertson could well be smiling again on Sunday due to the state of play in Brisbane.
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Watch and stream the 2025/26 snooker season, including the UK Championship, live on TNT Sports and discovery+
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