The England and Wales Cricket Board has cracked the whip on Ollie Robinson by suspending him from all forms of international cricket in the wake of a controversy triggered by his old racist and sexist tweets. The ECB said that the England and Sussex bowler had been suspended pending the outcome of a disciplinary investigation ‘following historic tweets he posted in 2012 and 2013.’
It said, “He will not be available for selection for the LV= Insurance second Test against New Zealand starting at Edgbaston on Thursday 10 June. Robinson will leave the England camp immediately and return to his county.”
Robinson picked up seven wickets in his debut Test against New Zealand at Lord’s and scored 42 valuable runs in the first innings. His knock helped England avoid a potential defeat at the hands of the Kiwis.
Robinson had to face intense media scrutiny during the first Test match after some of his racist and sexist tweets, posted between 2012 and 2013, surfaced on social media. He had to issue a public apology saying that he was deeply embarrassed by his old social media posts. Reading from a statement, Robinson had 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.”
Former England captain Nasser Hussain said that the controversy had ‘ruined Ollie Robinson’s biggest day as a professional cricketer.’
“I always remember my debut fondly, I will always remember my first day. He will always remember this day for something he did as an 18-year-old and that is very sad,” the former England skipper told Sky Sports.
A report by the BBC said that at the conclusion of the match on Sunday, England captain Joe Root said that the tweets were ‘not acceptable.’
The second and the last Test between England and New Zealand will start in Birmingham from Thursday.
