Robinson suspended from England duty ahead of investigation into racist and sexist posts

Ollie Robinson will play no part in England's second Test against New Zealand starting on June 10 after he was suspended by the ECB.

 
 

Ollie Robinson has been suspended from England duty pending an investigation into the historic messages of a racist and sexist nature that were posted on his Twitter account.

Sussex pace bowler Robinson took 7-101 and scored 42 runs in the drawn first Test against New Zealand at Lord's.

However, while the Sussex seamer was in action on the field on the first day of the Test, comments he made in 2012 and 2013 ? when he was aged 18 and 19 ? emerged on social media.

The discovery of the comments came after England's players wore anti-discrimination T-shirts carrying messages regarding racism, sexism, transphobia, homophobia and ageism ahead of play starting on Wednesday.

ECB chief executive Tom Harrison strongly condemned the posts and confirmed a full investigation would be launched as part of the governing body's disciplinary process.

A statement from the ECB on Sunday confirmed the 27-year-old will not be able to take part in international cricket until the investigation is complete.

The statement read: "England and Sussex bowler Ollie Robinson has been suspended from all international cricket pending the outcome of a disciplinary investigation following historic tweets he posted in 2012 and 2013.

"He will not be available for selection for the second Test against New Zealand starting at Edgbaston on Thursday June 10.

"Robinson will leave the England camp immediately and return to his county."

At the close of play on day one of the Test, Robinson admitted to being "ashamed" by the social media posts.

"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," he said.

"I want to make it clear that I'm not racist and I'm not sexist. I deeply regret my actions, and I am ashamed of making such remarks.

"I was thoughtless and irresponsible, and regardless of my state of mind at the time, my actions were inexcusable. Since that period, I have matured as a person and fully regret the tweets."