UK culture minister Oliver Dowden slams England board for suspending Ollie Robinson: ECB should think again

The England cricket board suspended pacer Ollie Robinson from all international cricket, pending the outcome of a disciplinary investigation, for some racist and sexist comments he made on Twitter 8 years ago as a teenager.

United Kingdom's culture minister Oliver Dowden came down hard on the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) after they suspended fast bowler Ollie Robinson from international cricket for his racist and sexist tweets he posted in 2012. 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. Robinson made his England debut in the first Test against New Zealand at Lord's last week but his special moment was overshadowed by some of his tweets which he posted in 2012 and 2013 when he was a teenager. Robinson was reduced to tears and apologised "unreservedly" for the tweets that went viral on social media after the first day's play on June 2. He played the rest of the match, taking 7 wickets in two innings and was suspended a few hours after it finished in a draw on Sunday.