LONDON: England’s pacer Ollie Robinson has been suspended from all international cricket pending the outcome of a disciplinary investigation into historical racist and sexist tweets he posted in 2012 and 2013.
Robinson will not be available for second Test against New Zealand starting at Edgbaston on Thursday. He will now leave the team camp immediately and return to his county side, Sussex.
The posts from 2012 and 2013 were revealed while he was making his England debut during the drawn first Test against New Zealand at Lord’s. Robinson issued an apology after admitting to posting “racist and sexist” comments on Twitter as a teenager.
“I deeply regret my actions, and I am ashamed of making such remarks. 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,” Robinson said.
Ollie Robinson was the pick of England’s bowlers against New Zealand as he took seven wickets in the drawn first match of the two-Test series, while he also scored 42 runs at Lord’s.
Speaking about Robinson after England held on to draw the first Test, captain Joe Root said, “From a performance point of view, on the field, he’s had an exceptional debut. With regards to the stuff that has happened off the field, it’s not acceptable within our game – we all know that.”
“He has dealt with a huge array of emotions over this last week and he has got to learn some hard lessons,” Root said, adding, “He addressed the dressing room, and media outlets, straight away, he fronted up to it. He showed a lot of remorse from that point onwards.”
Root added, “For us as a sport, we’ve got to keep looking to be better, educate and learn as much as we can and make the game as inclusive and diverse as possible. This team is committed to doing that and hopefully over time we can make a real difference.”
Robinson has a separate employment contract with Sussex so he is free to play, if selected, for the county during his international suspension.
