England’s debutant Ollie Robinson has found himself in hot waters after his Tweets from eight years ago, both racist and sexist in nature resurfaced across social media. The fast bowler has issued a statement expressing deep regret for his past action and said that he’d matured as a person since but a disciplinary process will be initiated by the ECB for his gross indiscretion.
Robinson was the highlight of England’s bowling on the first day of the first Test that was largely dominated by New Zealand’s debutant Devon Conway. The 27-year-old returned with two wickets before the Black Caps posted 246 for three on the back of Conway’s unbeaten 136.
England debutant faces heat over sexist tweets
Incidentally, the tweets resurfaced on Twitter on the same day as Test debutant Robinson and his teammates sported black ‘anti-discrimination t-shirts before the start of the New Zealand Test at Lord’s. Ollie Robinson has apologised for his actions in the past and stated that he has matured as a person in a statement released by England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB).
“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,” Robinson said in a statement released by the England and Wales Cricket Board.
“I deeply regret my actions, and I am ashamed of making such remarks. It was thoughtless and irresponsible, and regardless of my state of mind at the time, my actions were inexcusable. Since that period, I have matured as a person and fully regret the tweets.”
“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,” he added.
ECB to launch an investigation against Ollie Robinson
Meanwhile, Ollie Robinson has been a subject of controversy in the past and even had his Sussex contract terminated in 2014 because of a “number of unprofessional actions.”
ECB chief Tom Harrison has also expressed his regret over the same and stated that ECB will launch an investigation considering that they have a zero-tolerance policy.
“I do not have the words to express how disappointed I am that an England Men’s player has chosen to write tweets of this nature, however long ago that might have been. Any person reading those words, particularly a woman or person of colour, would take away an image of cricket and cricketers that is completely unacceptable. We are better than this.
“We have a zero-tolerance stance to any form of discrimination and there are rules in place that handle conduct of this nature. ECB will initiate a full investigation as part of our disciplinary process,” Harrison said.
