Courtesy- The Indian Express
The spokesman for British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson stated on Monday that the PM is “supportive” of Culture Secretary Sajid Javid’s opinion that the England and Wales Cricket Board should rethink suspending bowler Ollie Robinson for racist and misogynistic statements in 2012.
The UK government’s secretary for culture, sports, technology, and media, Oliver Dowden, claimed the ECB’s punishment of Robinson was “over the top.”
Ollie Robinson’s tweets were offensive and wrong.
They are also a decade old and written by a teenager. The teenager is now a man and has rightly apologised. The ECB has gone over the top by suspending him and should think again.
— Oliver Dowden (@OliverDowden) June 7, 2021
Fast bowler Robinson was barred from international cricket on Sunday awaiting an inquiry into tweets he sent as a teenager.
Mr. Dowden stated on Twitter, “Ollie Robinson’s remarks were insulting and incorrect.”
“They are also almost a decade old and were written by a teenager. The adolescent is now a man, and he has properly apologized. The ECB went too far in suspending him and should reconsider.”
Later that day, Johnson’s official spokeswoman stated, “The Prime Minister supports the views made by Oliver Dowden via twitter this morning.”
As Oliver Dowden pointed out, these were remarks made more than a decade ago (sic) written by someone as a teenager, for which they have appropriately apologized.
Dowden has served as the Conservative Party’s Member of Parliament (MP) for Hertsmere since 2015. The tweets reappeared on Wednesday, the first day of Robinson’s Test debut against New Zealand at Lord’s. He had taken seven wickets in the contest in a great debut effort at the Mecca of Cricket.
At the end of the first day of play, the 27-year-old apologized and said that he was going through a terrible time in his life when he tweeted the racist tweets as an 18-year-old.
“I want to make it clear that I am neither racist or sexist,” Robinson stated. “I genuinely regret my conduct and am embarrassed to have made such words. I was careless and reckless, and my acts were unforgivable regardless of my state of mind at the moment. Since then, I’ve grown as a person and completely regret the tweets,” he added.
However, his apology was insufficient, and the ECB suspended him following the conclusion of the first Test while conducting a disciplinary inquiry. Robinson will be unavailable for the second Test against New Zealand, which begins on Thursday at Edgbaston.
“England and Sussex bowler Ollie Robinson has been suspended from all international cricket pending the conclusion of a disciplinary inquiry after historic tweets he sent in 2012 and 2013,” the ECB stated in a statement.
“He will not be eligible for selection for the second Test against New Zealand, which begins on Thursday at Edgbaston (June 10). Robinson will leave the England camp as soon as possible and return to his county.” Dowden’s views have elicited no response from the ECB.