England pacer Ollie Robinson has been suspended after controversial old ECB tweets emerged
On Sunday, the England and Cricket Board (ECB) suspended seamer Ollie Robinson from “all international cricket” after historic racist and sexist tweets came out earlier this week when he made his test debut against New Zealand.
Robinson will not be available for the second test against New Zealand starting Thursday, the England and Wales Cricket Board said.
Robinson made his test debut in the first match of the series at Lord’s, taking seven wickets in New Zealand’s two innings and also hitting 42 in England’s first innings.
“England and Sussex bowler Ollie Robinson has been suspended from all international cricket pending the outcome of a disciplinary investigation following historic tweets he posted in 2012 and 2013,” the ECB said in a statement.
“He will not be available for selection for the second Test against New Zealand starting at Edgbaston on Thursday 10 June. Robinson will leave the England camp immediately and return to his county,” the statement further added.
The tweets he posted when he was 18 and 19, which were racist and sexist in nature, resurfaced during the first day of the test and Robinson was close to tears as he issued an apology after stumps.
After play on Wednesday, Robinson said: “On the biggest day of my career so far, I am embarrassed by the racist and sexist tweets that I posted over eight years ago, which have today become public. I want to make it clear that I’m not racist and I’m not sexist.
“I deeply regret my actions, and I am ashamed of making such remarks. I would like to unreservedly apologise to anyone I have offended, my teammates and the game as a whole in what has been a day of action and awareness in combatting discrimination from our sport.”
England captain Joe Root, said that Robinson’s debut had been “exceptional” from an on-field performance point of view, his historical actions off-field were unacceptable.
“He’s contributed well with the bat, his performance with the ball was excellent. He’s showed high levels of skill and he’s definitely got the game that can be successful in Test cricket,” said Root.
“But in regards to the stuff that’s happened off the field, it’s not acceptable within our game. We all know that. He addressed the dressing room straight away. He obviously spoke to you guys and other media outlets straight away, fronted up to it. He showed a lot of remorse from that point onwards. You can see it’s very genuine from how he’s been around the group and the team,” added Root.
