Second England cricket player accused of posting ‘historic offensive material’
ITV News Correspondent Stacey Foster reports on the latest cricket developments from Edgbaston
The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) is looking into claims a second England player posted “historic offensive material”, just a day after the governing body suspended England and Sussex bowler Ollie Robinson for past racist and sexist tweets.
Wisden.com unearthed a tweet, publishing its content but concealing the alleged England cricketer’s identity because he was under the age of 16 at the time.
The ECB was forced to issue another statement on Tuesday evening, stressing "each case will be considered on an individual basis" after further posts were questioned.
The spokesperson said: "Since we were alerted to offensive tweets last week, a number of historical social media posts by other individuals have been questioned publicly as well.
"There is no place for discrimination in our sport, and we are committed to taking relevant and appropriate action where required.
"Given the concerns which have been raised are clearly now broader than a single case, the ECB Board will discuss how we deal with issues over historical social media material in a timely and appropriate manner.
"Each case will be considered on an individual basis, looking at all the facts. We will assess cases with the ECB Board before making further statements."
ITV News Correspondent Sangita Lal has the details of Ollie Robinson's suspension:
Bowler Robinson was suspended from all international cricket pending a disciplinary investigation by the ECB, which drew a surprising rebuke from Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden.
Robinson, 27, issued an apology for social media posts he wrote in 2012 and 2013, when he was in his late teens, that came to light and were shared online on the day he made his Test bow against New Zealand at Lord’s last week.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson earlier on Monday agreed with Dowden’s assessment that the suspension of Robinson from all international cricket was “over the top”.
While Dowden acknowledged Robinson’s tweets were “offensive and wrong”, he added they “are also a decade old and written by a teenager”.
A spokesperson for the PM said afterwards: “As Oliver Dowden set out, these were comments made more than a decade ago, written by someone as a teenager, and for which they have rightly apologised”.
The ECB declined to comment when asked about Dowden’s remarks.
Former cricketer Mark Ramprakash MBE said it was important a "strong message" was sent on the issue.
"Cricket is a sport that brings people together, and we want to foster that," he told ITV News.
"That's why I think it's really important than a strong message is sent that this is not acceptable, and if you want to represent the country, then your standards need to be higher than that."
'If you want to represent the country, then your standards need to be higher than that'
England head coach Chris Silverwood, speaking after the drawn first Test against the Black Caps, said: “There is absolutely no place in this game for any form of discrimination whatsoever. He [Robinson] showed a lot of remorse, he apologised publicly, he apologised to the dressing room. I think it’s been a really big learning curve for him.
"The big thing for us all is education. We are all striving to be better, none of us are perfect, and we all need to make sure we are learning all the time. We can make sure the world is a better place".
Craig Overton may be Robinson's replacement for the second Test against New Zealand starting at Edgbaston on Thursday, but scrutiny could fall on the bowler who was banned for two matches after allegedly telling then Sussex player and Pakistan-born batsman Ashar Zaidi to "get back to your own country" in 2015.
Overton has always denied making the comment and did so again in an interview with wisden.com last week, but England have recently stepped up their attempts to combat discrimination in all its forms in cricket.
England and New Zealand shared a 'Moment of Unity' at the Home of Cricket last Wednesday, with the hosts wearing t-shirts incorporating anti-discrimination messages, hours before Robinson’s social media posts came to light.
Asked whether he was ready for any criticism or additional attention that would result from picking Overton this week, Silverwood said: "If Craig plays, we will deal with that when we get there".