Firstpost Explains: Why is Ollie Robinson suspended after a successful Test debut?

On 2nd June, 27-year-old Ollie Robinson made his Test debut in the first of the two England-New Zealand Tests at Lord’s. A right-arm fast bowler, he finished with figures of 2/50 on Day 1, claiming the wickets of New Zealand batsmen Tom Latham and Ross Taylor. He ended the Test with seven wickets and 42 runs in the only innings he batted, making it a successful debut. However, he was in for a shock as his decade-old nasty tweets surfaced during the course of the Test. Consequently, Robinson finds himself out of all international cricket pending enquiry. The tweets, that were sexist and racist in nature, reappeared on the day when England players shared a so-called “moment of unity” with their New Zealand counterparts, wherein they put a slogan saying ‘cricket is a game for everyone’ on their T-shirts, highlighting their stance against discrimination of every sort. Racist and sexist tweets that stirred a controversy Robinson made his first-class debut in 2015 and represents Sussex County Cricket Club in domestic cricket. The tweets, which he posted when he was 18 and 19, included comments that suggested that Muslim people were linked to terrorism and also included other demeaning remarks about Asians. The offensive tweets included: “I wonder if Asian people put smileys like this ¦) #racist”; “My new muslim friend is the bomb. #wheeyyyyy”; “Real n—– don’t let the microwave hit 0:00”; and “Wash your fingers for the mingers #cuban”. Robinson was prompt in issuing an apology at the close of play on Wednesday, his first day in Test cricket, and said that he was “embarrassed” and “ashamed” of his words. [caption id=“attachment_9670071” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] File image of pacer Ollie Robinson. Image credit: Twitter/@ICC[/caption] “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. 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,” an emotional Robinson read out his statement, firstly to broadcasters and then to the media. Tom Harrison, chief executive of the England and Wales Cricket Board, had later revealed that they would carry out a “full investigation” in the matter. “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,” Harrison said. Suspension from international cricket  Soon after the first Test concluded in a draw, the ECB suspended Robinson from international cricket. The suspension means that he will leave the England squad right away and won’t be available for selection for the second Test in Edgbaston from 10 June.

“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,” the ECB said in a statement on Sunday.

He has a separate employment contract with Sussex so he is free to play, if selected, for the south coast county during his international suspension. Skipper Joe Root’s take on the matter 

After the match, Root was all praise for Robinson, who made a fine debut, but the England skipper said that he couldn’t believe the tweets and didn’t know how to receive them. “He’s (Robinson) 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. But in regards to the stuff that’s happened off the field, it’s not acceptable within our game. We all know that,” the England skipper said.  “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. “I think it’s a great lesson for everyone within our game that we can all do more. We all have to keep looking to educate ourselves, trying to better the environment for everyone, trying to be as inclusive as we can, keep making everyone feel comfortable to play what a wonderful sport we have,” added Root.  Meanwhile, taking to Twitter on Monday, India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin said that he was “genuinely sorry” about Robinson’s suspension. He added that this could be a sign of things to come in the era of social media.

I can understand the negative sentiments towards what #OllieRobinson did years ago, but I do feel genuinely sorry for him being suspended after an impressive start to his test career. This suspension is a strong indication of what the future holds in this social media Gen.

— Ashwin 🇮🇳 (@ashwinravi99) June 7, 2021

‘Institutional racism’ Even as ECB and the national team was dealing with the firestorm of the Ollie Robinson tweets, The Telegraph published a story claiming that two other England cricket team mainstays,  Jos Buttler and Eoin Morgan, were also being investigated for alleged racist comments against Indians. Former India wicketkeeper Farokh Engineer has also opened up t o The Indian Express about the racism he experienced in England. He pointed out that former England captain Geoffrey Boycott would use terms such as 'bloody Indians' . ECB has spent years grappling with allegations of widespread racism. Some, like former umpire John Holder and former England U19 and Yorkshire captain Azeem Rafiq, have previously spoken out about ECB’s history of “institutional racism.” Rafiq had said in an interview with ESPNCricinfo that he had contemplated suicide during his time with Yorkshire. “It’s obvious to anyone who cares that there’s a problem. Do I think there is institutional racism? It’s at its peak in my opinion. It’s worse than it’s ever been,” Rafiq alleged . “I believe the club is institutionally racist and I don’t believe they are prepared to acknowledge the fact or willing to change.” Rafiq’s allegations led to former West Indies player Tino Best and Pakistan’s Rana Naved-ul-Hasan providing evidence in support of Rafiq. A piece on ESPNcricinfo quoted Taj Butt, who worked with the Yorkshire Cricket Foundation as a community development officer, as saying, “(There were) continuous references to taxi drivers and restaurant workers when referring to (the) Asian community. They called every person of colour ‘Steve’. Even (India batsman) Cheteshwar Pujara, who joined as an overseas professional, was called Steve because they could not pronounce his name.” Meanwhile, Holder, along with another former umpire Ismail Dawood , had announced their intention to sue the ECB in December after alleging that their careers as umpires had been affected by institutional racism at the cricket body. Holder officiated in 16 Tests between 1988 and 2001. Former England player Michael Carberry also has made similar allegations. In 2020, in an interview with Cricket Badger Podcast, he said: “Cricket is rife with racism. The issue you have in cricket is, the people running the game don’t care about black people in it. Black people are not important to the structure of English cricket.

“If you look around English cricket at the moment, where the important decisions are made, name one black man in those positions? You’re talking the Andrew Strauss or Ashley Giles roles. Which black man has ever had the opportunity to make the big decisions on English cricket? Not one.”