LONDON, June 7: England fast bowler Ollie Robinson was suspended from international cricket pending an investigation into discriminatory tweets he posted from 2012-13.
Robinson will not be available for the second test against New Zealand starting Thursday, the England and Wales Cricket Board said on Sunday.
Robinson made his test debut in the first match of the series at Lord’s, taking seven wickets across New Zealand’s two innings and also hitting 42 in England’s first innings.
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.
“Robinson will leave the England camp immediately and return to his county,” England said about the Sussex bowler.
Robinson’s suspension
is an indication
Senior India spinner R Ashwin feels sorry for England pacer Robinson, who has been suspended for racist and sexist tweets posted back in 2012, and has called his punishment “a strong indication of what the future holds in this social media generation.”
“I can understand the negative sentiments towards what #OllieRobinson did years ago, but I do feel genuinely sorry for him being suspended after an impressive start to his test career,” Ashwin said on his Twitter handle.
Batting coach Graham Thorpe has said that going ahead, England could start reviewing the social media history of the players before their selection in the national team.
The screenshots of his posts resurfaced on numerous social media platforms after lunch interval on Day 1 of the first Test between England and New Zealand at Lord’s.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s spokesperson on Monday said the PM is “supportive” of the culture secretary’s view that England and Wales Cricket Board should reconsider the suspension of pacer Robinson.
The UK government’s culture and sports secretary Oliver Dowden on Monday said the ECB has gone “over the top” by suspending Robinson for the tweets.
“Ollie Robinson’s tweets were offensive and wrong,” Dowden tweeted
“They are also a decade old and written by a teenager. The teenager is now a man and has rightly apologised. The ECB has gone over the top by suspending him and should think again.”
‘Ollie has shown genuine remorse’
Robinson’s eight-year-old racist and sexist tweets were completely “unacceptable”, but he has shown “genuine remorse”, skipper Joe Root said while pushing for inclusivity in the country’s cricket set-up, starting from the top.
“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 straightaway. He obviously spoke to you guys and other media outlets straight away, fronted up to it,” Root said after the drawn first Test against New Zealand.
“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.”
The skipper said that he was shocked and didn’t know initially how to react.
The 27-year-old issued an apology on Wednesday, admitting to posting “racist and sexist tweets” as a teenager. He had expressed “deep regrets” about his actions while stating “I’m not racist and I’m not sexist.”
Robinson’s offensive tweets targeted Muslims and Asians and he has said he is “ashamed” of them. (Agencies)
