Ollie Robinson Handed Suspension By ECB For Historic Racist And Sexist Tweets, To Miss 2nd Test vs New Zealand

England pacer Ollie Robinson will miss the Edgbaston Test versus New Zealand, starting Thursday, as he has been suspended from international cricket by the ECB pending an investigation into the historic racist and sexiest tweets the pacer had tweeted in 2012 and 2013 as a teenager.

Ollie Robinson, who made an impressive debut at Lord’s, will leave the squad soon and return to his county, Sussex. He will be allowed to play for Sussex during the investigation period. The board released a statement following the draw of the first Test on Sunday.

“England and Sussex bowler Ollie Robinson has been suspended from all international cricket pending the outcome of a disciplinary investigation following historic tweets he posted in 2012 and 2013.

“He will not be available for selection for the second Test against New Zealand starting at Edgbaston on Thursday (June 10). Robinson will leave the England camp immediately and return to his county,” the statement said.

The tweets were discovered on Wednesday, Day 1 of the Lord’s Test soon after the pacer was announced to make his debut. While he was bowling on the field, the tweets shot to the limelight on social media. At the end of the day, Ollie Robinson learned about it and then issued a public apology for his actions as an 18-year-old.

“I want to make it clear that I’m not racist and I’m not sexist. I deeply regret my actions, and I am ashamed of making such remarks. I 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,” the 27-year-old said after play on Day 1.

It’s not acceptable within our game, I couldn’t believe the tweets personally: Joe Root

England captain Joe Root praised Ollie Robinson for his brilliant performance on the field – 7 wickets across two innings and 42 crucial first-innings runs – but condemned his tweets saying it has unacceptable. The skipper, though, threw his and the entire team’s support behind the debutant.

This comes in the backdrop of the England players, including Ollie Robinson, taking a ‘moment of unity’ ahead of the game wearing t-shirts with slogans including ‘we stand together against racism’ and ‘we stand together against sexism’ as ECB tries to make the game more accessible for people of all backgrounds.

“He’s contributed well with the bat, his performance with the ball was excellent. He’s showed high levels of skill and he’s definitely got the game that can be successful in Test cricket,” Joe Root said.

“But 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 straight away. He obviously spoke to you guys and other media outlets straight away, fronted up to it. 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. 

“I couldn’t believe them [the tweets], personally. I didn’t really know how to take it on the surface. I think the most important thing is Ollie is part of this dressing room and we had to support him. We had to try and do everything that we could to give him an opportunity to learn and understand he has to do better,” the skipper further added.