ECB to launch investigation into Ollie Robinson's 'racist and 'sexist' tweets

England pacer Ollie Robinson made an impressive start to his Test career, taking two wickets against New Zealand on the opening day of the first Test. The right-arm fast bowler exploited swing from the Lord’s surface and constantly troubled the Kiwi batsmen. However, his stellar show on debut wasn’t the only reason why Robinson hogged the limelight on the opening day. Soon after the pacer received his Test cap, many of his old “racist and sexist” tweets resurfaced on social media.

Robinson made those unpleasant remarks back in 2012, 2013 when he was a teenager. Seeing the backlash of fans over his posts, the debutant also issued an apology after the conclusion of the day’s play. Robinson condemned his actions and apologized to everyone he offended. Although the 27-year-old has expressed his regret, he can still face repercussions for his old derogatory remarks.

Speaking on the episode, ECB chief executive officer Tom Harrison told the media that an investigation will be launched over the matter despite the tweets being old. He was truly disappointed with Robinson’s remarks and mentioned that the cricket body has a “zero-tolerance” policy towards any form of discrimination.

That is completely unacceptable: Tom Harrison

“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,” Tom Harrison said.

“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,” he added. Now that Robinson has expressed his guilt over his social-media activities, it will be interesting to see how ECB handles this matter.

Meanwhile, New Zealand, who opted to bat first, ended day one of the Lord’s Test at 246/3. Debutant opener Devon Conway hammered an unbeaten 136 while Henry Nicholls (46) was the other not-out batsman at stumps. James Anderson was England’s only wicket-taker apart from Robinson.