"Hearing some say Ollie Robinson should never play again is utterly ridiculous" - Michael Vaughan
Former England captain Michael Vaughan has opined that the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has dealt with the Ollie Robinson situation in a fair way. According to him, the thinking by some that Robinson should never play again is ‘utterly ridiculous’.
On Sunday, 27-year-old Ollie Robinson was suspended from all international cricket pending the outcome of a disciplinary investigation over the ‘racist’ and ‘sexist’ tweets he posted in 2012 and 2013. The pacer made an impressive Test debut against New Zealand at Lord’s, claiming seven wickets and scoring 42 runs.
On his official Twitter account, Vaughan wrote that he is hopeful of Ollie Robinson making a comeback in the Test series against India. England will take on India in a five-match Test series, starting August 4 in Nottingham. The former England skipper tweeted:
"I think the ECB have dealt with the Ollie Robinson situation in a fair way .. many will disagree .. but hearing some say he should never play again is utterly ridiculous .. he will play against India & should."
In a related development, the ECB has confirmed that they are investigating reports of a second English player, who posted historical “offensive material”. After a Wisden report claimed that it had found an old tweet by a certain player, which included a racist term, the ECB released a statement and said:
“It has been brought to our attention that an England player has posted historic offensive material on their social media account. We are looking into it and will make a further comment in due course.”
Michael Vaughan disagrees with views that ECB went ‘over the top’ with Ollie Robinson case
On the Tuffers and Vaughan podcast, Vaughan backed the ECB’s action against Ollie Robinson, stating he didn’t agree with statements that the board went a bit too far.
UK’s Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden had claimed that that ECB went ‘over the top’ in suspending Ollie Robinson for posts that were nearly a decade old. He even found backing from British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
Having his say on Ollie Robinson’s suspension, Vaughan said:
"They (ECB) had to act. I know there was pressure from powers within that they were potentially going to ask him to leave the game after day one and not participate in the remaining four days - I thought that would have been a little over the top."
Meanwhile, England will take on New Zealand in the second Test of the two-match series, starting in Birmingham from June 10. The first Test at Lord’s ended in a draw.
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