England fast bowler, Ollie Robinson, has apologised for a series of tweets which came to light during the opening day of the first Test between England and New Zealand at Lord’s.
Robinson, making his debut for England, took two wickets after receiving his cap but remained unaware until stumps that tweets dating back to 2012 and 2013 had resurfaced.
The tweets included racist, sexist and islamophobic comments and jokes and were posted when Robinson was playing for Yorkshire at the age of 18 and 19.
The 27-year-old read a prepared statement to the media shortly after play had finished, apologising for the tweets and maintaining he has matured since posting them.
“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,” said Robinson.
“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.
“Today should be about my efforts on the field and the pride of making my Test debut for England, but my thoughtless behaviour in the past has tarnished this.”
Before play commenced, England and New Zealand joined forces in a ‘moment of unity’ as part of the ECB’s campaign to stamp out discrimination in cricket. England also unveiled training t-shirts bearing slogans in line with the campaign.
The ECB will conduct a full investigation as part of a disciplinary process.
Chief Executive Officer, Tom Harrison, said the ECB has a zero-tolerance policy towards discrimination and reaffirmed the ECBs commitment to its anti-discrimination programmes.
“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,” Harrison said in a statement released to the media.
“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.
“Our England Men’s Team, alongside others from the ECB and our partners across the game, worked together today to create a moment of unity. Using today’s spotlight to reaffirm our commitment to driving forward an anti-discrimination agenda. 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.”
Robinson was sacked by Yorkshire in 2014 for unprofessional conduct before his flourishing form as a new ball bowler at Sussex, under the guidance of Jason Gillespie, brought him into contention for the England Test side.
“Over the past few years, I have worked hard to turn my life around,” said Robinson. “I have considerably matured as an adult. The work and education I have gained personally from the PCA Professional. Cricket Association], my county Sussex and the England Cricket Team have helped me to come to terms and gain a deep understanding of being a responsible professional cricketer.
“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.
“I don’t want something that happened eight years ago to diminish the efforts of my teammates and the ECB as they continue to build meaningful action with their comprehensive initiatives and efforts, which I fully endorse and support.
“I will continue to educate myself, look for advice and work with the support network that is available to me to learn more about getting better in this area. I am sorry, and I have certainly learned my lesson today.”
