Ollie Robinson, England’s fast bowler, apologized on Wednesday after a series of racist and misogynistic comments surfaced during his Test debut against New Zealand at Lord’s. The 27-year-old led England’s assault with 2-50 on the opening day of the two-match series, but his performance was overshadowed by the resurfacing of tweets he sent as a youngster.
The tweets, which date back to 2012, put Robinson in an extra awkward situation because both sides had lined up before the game for a ‘Moment of Unity’ to demonstrate their opposition to prejudice in cricket.
“On the biggest day of my career thus far, I am humiliated by racist and sexist tweets I sent over eight years ago that have just become public,” Robinson said after stumping. “I want to make it clear that I am neither a racist or a sexist. I really regret my conduct and am embarrassed to have made such words,” he added.
Robinson will now face disciplinary action, according to England and Wales Cricket Board chief executive Tom Harrison. He explained how anyone reading those comments, especially a woman or a person of colour, would take away a fundamentally inappropriate image of cricket and cricketers.
“We have a zero-tolerance stance to any form of discrimination and there are rules in place that handle conduct of this nature,” Harrison said.
