'Disappointed' ECB Promises To Investigate Into Ollie Robinson's Racist And Sexist Tweets

England rookie paceman Ollie Robinson might have enjoyed a promising debut; however, it was marred by some controversial revelations. Ollie Robinson’s Twitter account consisted of a few racial and sexist tweets when he was a teenager. The tweets, sent between April 2012 and June 2013, not only included the use of the N-word, but also suggesting that Muslim people were linked with terrorism, along with offensive comments regarding women and people of Asian heritage. Despite him apologizing, the England Cricket Board (ECB) has decided to launch an investigation.

Ollie Robinson released a statement after stumps on the opening day of the first Test between England and New Zealand in Lord’s, apologizing and claiming he feels humiliated by those derogatory comments he made on Twitter as a teenager. The 27-year old conceded he regrets his actions and feels ashamed of making such remarks and sincerely apologized to anyone who he might have offended, including his teammates or the game.

But England Cricket Board (ECB) Chief Executive officer Tom Harrison feels disappointed that an England cricketer chose to send tweets of this nature. Harrison underlined that any person belonging to any community or colour would be offended by it. He revealed to have a zero-tolerance policy towards such behaviour, saying they will conduct a thorough investigation as part of their disciplinary process. Harrison concluded by stating that they will show full commitment to the scrutinization, so it is an education for the upcoming generation as well.

“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. We will initiate a full investigation as part of our disciplinary process. Our commitment to that effort remains unwavering, and the emergence of these comments from Ollie’s past reiterates the need for ongoing education and engagement on this issue,” Harrison released a statement.

Ollie Robinson was the pick of the bowlers on day one of the first Test:

On the cricketing side of things, Ollie Robinson enjoyed a highly encouraging debut as he snared a couple of wickets to launch his Test career. He delivered the first breakthrough for England, breaking the opening stand of 58 between Tom Latham and Devon Conway by removing the former. The right-arm seamer went on to dismiss Ross Taylor for his second wicket as he finished day one with figures of 16-4-50-2. But the highlight of the day was debutant Devon Conway’s unbeaten hundred as it carried the tourists to 246-3 at stumps.

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