British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has backed the England pacer Ollie Robinson regarding his racist tweet that saw him faced a suspension by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). He supported the seamer and said that the English cricket’s ruling body went “over the top” with the suspension.
However, Oliver Dowden on Monday requested the ECB to “think again” over the suspension of the 27-year-old. Notably, Ollie Robinson has impressed with ball and bat in his debut Test against New Zealand, which ended in a draw on Sunday. But his racist tweets in 2012 and 2013 has left him suspended from all international cricket until the result of the investigation comes as well.
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“Ollie Robinson’s tweets were offensive and wrong,” Dowden said. “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.”
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
However, Boris Johnson backed Dowden. “As Oliver Dowden set out, these were comments made more than a decade ago written by someone as a teenager and for which they’ve rightly apologised,” said a spokesman for the prime minister as well.
The pacer led England’s bowling attack with 4-75 in the first innings of the first Test at Lord’s and finished with 3-26 in the second innings while scoring an all-important 42 with the bat. Ollie Robinson, meanwhile, in a statement issued after the game on Wednesday, said that he was “embarrassed” and “ashamed” by the tweets he made years ago.
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The posts went viral on the first day of his Test debut. “I want to make it clear that I’m not racist and I’m not sexist,” he added.
Meanwhile, former England captain David Gower also thought the penalty was a bit harsh on the pacer as well. “The ECB should say ‘let’s learn from this’ and make him do the equivalent of community service,” Gower told the BBC on Monday. “He should go out there among county cricketers and spread the word that social media shouldn’t be abused.”
