The first Lord's Test in
two years had seemed destined for a draw after losing the entire third day to
rain, and drawn it surely was as the teams shook hands at just gone 7pm on the
final evening. .. .. it was different
feeling for the 3 debutants – Devon Conway celebrated with a double in his
first innings ! James Bracey could not open his account in the 6 balls he faced
.. then there was the other man who is feeling bad after his impressive
debut. Only two England bowlers this century
have claimed more than seven wickets on Test debut, while only Rory Burns
scored more runs in England's first innings. Ollie Robinson's 42 played a significant role
in helping England avoid the follow-on.
The match was meandering
to a listless draw but there was peril and intrigue along the route, as New
Zealand sprung a declaration on England after a brief shower brought about an
early lunch. The carrot of chasing 273 in 75 overs had been dangled, though
England were clearly wary of the offer. The home side looked outmatched for
much of this first Test and the nerves were palpable when they fell to 56 for 2
shortly before tea, a wicket away from their youthful middle order being
exposed.
Away from
the ground, the debutant 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. As a result, Robinson is unavailable for selection for the second Test
against New Zealand starting at Edgbaston on Thursday. Announcing his
suspension on Sunday, the ECB confirmed that Robinson will leave the England
camp immediately and return to his county, Sussex.
Robinson
issued an apology on Wednesday after admitting to posting "racist and
sexist" comments on Twitter as a teenager. News of the tweets emerged
shortly after Robinson walked onto the field at Lord's in his Test debut
earlier that day. It was also just after England and New Zealand players had
stood on the side of the field shortly before the start of the first Test in a
'moment of unity' with the home players wearing T-shirts which denounced
various forms of discrimination.
Speaking after the drawn
first Test, in which Robinson took a total of seven wickets - with 4 for 75 and
3 for 26 - and scored 42 in England's first innings, Joe Root, the England
captain, said that while Robinson's debut had been "exceptional" from
an on-field performance point of view, his historical actions off-field were
unacceptable. "But in regards to
the stuff that's happened off the field, it's not acceptable within our game.
We all know that. He addressed the dressing room straight away. He obviously
spoke to you guys and other media outlets straight away, fronted up to it. He
showed a lot of remorse from that point onwards. You can see it's very genuine
from how he's been around the group and the team.
Ollie Robinson apologised
for posting 'racist and sexist' comments on Twitter as a teenager. Former Cricketer, Graham Thorpe said Ollie
Robinson showed 'character' in aftermath of Twitter storm. "I think it's a
great lesson for everyone within our game that we can all do more. We all have
to keep looking to educate ourselves, trying to better the environment for
everyone, trying to be as inclusive as we can, keep making everyone feel
comfortable to play what a wonderful sport we have."
The ECB
promised to conduct a full invstigation once the Tweets emerged. After play on Wednesday, Robinson said: "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. 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 would like to
unreservedly apologise to anyone I have offended, my teammates and the game as
a whole in what has been a day of action and awareness in combatting
discrimination from our sport."
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 digital,
culture, media and sport (DCMS), 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, comments which were
later supported by Boris Johnson, the prime minister. 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. The British PM, Boris Johnson has today
backed England cricket star Ollie Robinson after he was suspended over racist
and sexist tweets posted when he was a teenager. Downing Street revealed that PM agrees with minister Oliver
Dowden that the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has 'gone over the top'
by suspending the fast-bowler.
However, Labour have
backed the ECB, with shadow culture secretary Jo Stevens saying : 'It is right
that the ECB takes the action that they think is necessary and appropriate to
tackle racism and other forms of discrimination in their sport. 'They should
not be criticised for doing so by the Secretary of State.'
It was an impressive debut
but – one needs to pay for the wrong actions, albeit few years have rolled by,
in between.
7th June 2021.
No comments:
Post a Comment