UK government minister weighs in on Ollie Robinson’s suspension by ECB | Cricket

The ECB has been accused of going “over the top” in its punishment of Ollie Robinson by a UK government minister. Oliver Dowden, the secretary of state for sport, called on the ECB to think again after it suspended Robinson from international cricket pending a “disciplinary investigation” into tweets he made in 2012 and 2013.

The tweets, written when Robinson was aged 18 and 19, contained both racist and sexist comments as well as unsavoury references to Madeleine McCann and Gary Speed.

While Dowden, who has been head of the department for digital, culture, media and sport (DCMS) since 2020, accepted the tweets were “offensive and wrong” he urged the ECB to reconsider its course of action.

“Ollie Robinson’s tweets were offensive and wrong,” Dowden wrote on Twitter. “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

R Ashwin, the India allrounder, also expressed sympathy towards Robinson. While understanding the “negative sentiments” towards Robinson, Ashwin said he felt “genuinely sorry for him being suspended after an impressive start to his Test career”.

Ashwin also warned that the suspension was “a strong indication of what the future hold” for a generation brought up on social media.