Government minister Oliver Dowden accuses ECB of going "over the top" in suspension of Ollie Robinson

Robinson has been suspended from England duty, pending the outcome of a full investigation, and will miss the second Test against New Zealand at Edgbaston

The ECB has gone “over the top” by suspending Ollie Robinson, according to Oliver Dowden, the secretary of state for sport.

Robinson has been suspended from England duty, pending the outcome of a full investigation, and will miss the second Test against New Zealand at Edgbaston.

An ECB investigation into racist and sexist tweets he posted in 2012 and 2013 is ongoing but he will leave the camp immediately. No date has been set for an outcome of the disciplinary action.

Robinson's suspension only covers international cricket so he could, in theory, be available for Sussex during their upcoming T20 Blast campaign.

The uncovering of the 27-year-old's historical social media activity came during the day of his Test debut.

They included insulting remarks about Asians and Muslims as well as several derogatory remarks regarding women.

Following the completion of the opening day, he and the team were informed of the development. Robinson issued a full apology, followed by a statement by ECB chief executive Tom Harrison.

Robinson was not withdrawn from the XI and went on to claim match figures of 7 for 101 and scored a handy 42 in the England first innings.

Ollie Robinson apologises for racist tweets from 2012: "I'm ashamed of making such remarks"

In his tweet on Monday morning, Dowden asked the ECB to “think again”.

He wrote: “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.”

After the first day’s play, Robinson apologised, saying: “I am sorry, and I have certainly learned my lesson today,” he said. “I want to make it clear that I'm not racist and I'm not sexist.”

Captain Joe Root was impressed with his on-field display but refused to hold back in condemning Robinson’s conduct after the team had worn anti-discriminatory t-shirts during a ‘moment of unity’ before the match.

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

“It is not acceptable within our game,” he said. “He addressed the dressing room straight away. 

“He showed a lot of remorse from that point onwards and you could see it was very genuine from how he has been around the team. It is a great lesson from around the group that we can all do more.

“We want to make our game more inclusive, more diverse and we must continue to do that. We're not perfect and we have to keep bettering ourselves.”

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