Picture Credit: Twitter/@englandcricket
A Cricket Discipline Commission(CDC) panel has today announced its verdict in relation to two charges brought up against English cricketer Ollie Robinson. Robinson made his Test debut at the Lord's in June 2021, claiming seven wickets & scoring total of 42 runs in his debut match.
Robinson's historic tweets incident comes to rest
On the eve of 2nd June 2021, which was the first day of Robinson’s maiden Test match for his country, some old tweets made by the fast-bowler came into light. These tweets, which were made between 2012 and 2014 by Robinson aged 18 to 20, were deemed to be offensive by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). Robinson, however had recently admitted breaching ECB Directives 3.3 and 3.4 in relation to these tweets.
Following a hearing on 30 June, the CDC Panel decided that Robinson should be suspended from playing cricket for eight matches, five of which will be suspended for two years.
Notably, the Panel has taken into account the suspension imposed by the England Cricket Board from the second Test against New Zealand, together with two of the Vitality Blast T20 matches from which Robinson voluntarily withdrew himself from selection for Sussex CCC due to the impact of these ongoing proceedings. Robinson is therefore free to play cricket immediately. The fast bowler was also handed a fine worth 3200 Euros by the panel on the same.
“We accept the decisions made by the Cricket Discipline Commission and the sanctions they have imposed. “Ollie has acknowledged that, whilst published a long time ago when he was a young man, these historic tweets were unacceptable. He has engaged fully in the disciplinary process, admitted the charges, has received his sanction from the CDC and will participate in training and use his experiences to help others," the part of official statement read.
“Given he has served the suspension handed down by the CDC, he will now be available for selection for England again," added the English board.
Seeing the verdict from the official board, the 27-year-old accepted CDC's decision along with the suspension & fine imposed over sexist & racist tweets. He also apologised for the incident, stating" As I have said previously, I am incredibly embarrassed and ashamed about the tweets I posted many years ago and apologise unreservedly for their contents. I am deeply sorry for the hurt I caused to anyone who read those tweets and in particular to those people to whom the messages caused offence. This has been the most difficult time in my professional career for both my family and myself.”
Can Ollie Robinson be a part of England's squad for Test series against India?
After this verdict from the CDC, Robinson has been cleared to resume cricket. Also, it has been clearly stated that he will be available for selection for England's Test series against India. The Three Lions are set to play 5 Test matches against the Men in Blue, starting from August 4,