Days after England fast bowler Ollie Robinson’s suspension over past ‘racist’ and ‘sexist’ tweets, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has confirmed they are investigating reports of a second English player, who posted historical “offensive material”.
A report in Wisden claimed that it had found a tweet by a certain player, which included a racist term. The report mentioned that the identity of the player has not been revealed as he was under 16 when he posted the controversial tweet.
The ECB has released a statement over the matter and stated that they will look into it. The statement read:
“It has been brought to our attention that an England player has posted historic offensive material on their social media account. We are looking into it and will make a further comment in due course.”
The latest development comes even as the ECB took the decision to suspend Ollie Robinson from international cricket pending an investigation into the controversial tweets he posted back in 2012 and 2013. The Sussex pacer made an impressive debut against New Zealand at Lord’s but it was overshadowed by the off-field controversy. He picked seven wickets and played a crucial knock of 42 runs.
England pacer’s suspension smirks mixed reactions
UK culture minister Oliver Dowden on Monday slammed the ECB and urged the governing body to reconsider its decision to suspend Ollie Robinson. Dowden tweeted:
“Ollie Robinson’s tweets were offensive and wrong. They are also a decade old and written by a teenager. The teenager is now a man and has rightly apologized.”
Ollie Robinson’s tweets were offensive and wrong.
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.
— Oliver Dowden (@OliverDowden) June 7, 2021
British PM Boris Johnson also backed Dowden’s comments, stating that the ECB “has gone too far” by suspending Ollie Robinson. A spokesperson for Mr. Johnson was quoted as saying in a BBC report:
“The PM is supportive of Oliver Dowden’s comments. As Dowden set out, these were comments made more than a decade ago written by someone as a teenager and for which they’ve rightly apologised.”
However, former England captain Michael Vaughan had a differing view and backed ECB’s action over Ollie Robinson. He said on the Tuffers and Vaughan podcast:
“They had to act. I know there was pressure from powers within that they were potentially going to ask him to leave the game after day one and not participate in the remaining four days – I thought that would have been a little over the top.”
England will face New Zealand in the second Test of the two-match series in Birmingham from June 10.
