ENG vs NZ: England bowler to be dropped from 2nd Test on disciplinary grounds

Social media is now a part and parcel of everyone’s life. Everyone ranging from a common man to a celebrity has to be very careful of what they post and comment on those platforms. In the present generation, an individual’s activity on his social media profile to a certain extent reflects his behaviour and outlook on society. In a recent turn of events, England fast bowler Ollie Robinson is all set to face an axe from the playing eleven for the second Test, due to the racist and sexist comment that he posted on social media way back in 2012.

Ollie Robinson likely to be dropped for the second Test

The first day of Test cricket at Lord’s between England and New Zealand was no less than a movie paradox. Contrasting events happened on in and outside the cricket field. While the England and New Zealand team shared a ‘Moment of Unity’ before the start of the first Test at Lord’s to show their support against discrimination by wearing anti-racist and anti-sexist T-Shirts, people on Twitter dug up old sexist and racist tweets of debutant Ollie Robinson and threw it to the public attention.

This incident led to a lot of hate being showered on social media against ECB and Robinson in particular. People started questioning the integrity of the Board, which was supposedly fighting against discrimination that day while providing a national cap to a racist and sexist person on the same day.

?"There is no room for racism, there is no room for online hate; it has ruined his biggest day as a professional cricketer."?@NasserCricket reacts to the news of historical, offensive tweets from Ollie Robinson in 2012 that spoilt his England Test debut.

— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) June 2, 2021

All these have forced ECB to drop Robinson from the second Test playing eleven, despite his good performance in the first Test so far. Daily Telegraph reported this news, and an official confirmation is awaiting.

WTC Final: Why Indian Players Are Not Allowed To Meet Each Other? 

Ollie Robinson apologizes to teammates and the public

In the wake of this incident, Robinson was made to apologize in front of his entire team for letting the team and the nation down with these kinds of online comments.

“He (Robinson) had to say sorry to the dressing room, he had to say sorry to the world about what he did,” said Thorpe.

“So from that perspective it’s very hard for him but he knows he made mistakes. So at the end of the day, that’s why he had to make those apologies. But in our dressing room, we had to support him as well,” he added.

He later said that he was embarrassed and feels guilty for the sexist and racists comments that he posted way back in 2012.

Ollie Robinson has apologised "unreservedly" for a number of racist and sexist messages he posted on Twitter in 2012, with the 27-year-old adding that he was "embarrassed" by the social media posts that resurfaced on the day he made his England Test debut.

— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) June 2, 2021

“On the biggest day of my career so far, I am embarrassed by the racist and sexist tweets that I posted over eight years ago, which have today become public,” Robinson said in a statement. “I want to make it clear that I’m not racist and I’m not sexist.”

He sent out a public note through his social media profiles and apologized to the public and begged them to not see him as a sexist or racist person from now. He clarified that he has changed for good and seems to be a better person now.

He continued, “I deeply regret my actions, and I am ashamed of making such remarks. I would like to unreservedly apologize to anyone I have offended, my teammates, and the game as a whole in what has been a day of action and awareness in combating discrimination from our sport. I just want to apologize to everyone. I regret it hugely.”

Rashid Khan describes MS Dhoni in One Word