England bowler Ollie Robinson free to resume cricket career after ban for offensive tweets

Ollie Robinson will serve no further ban for his historical racist and homophobic tweets and will be available for the India Test series.

Robinson is free to resume his cricket career after the Cricket Discipline Commission (CDC) announced he has been handed an eight-match ban, five of which are suspended for two years, for "a number of offensive tweets" between 2012 and 2014.

The 27-year-old has already missed three matches during the investigation.

The decision was made by the CDC, an independent panel that adjudicated on the ECB. He has also been fined £3,200.

Robinson’s posts came to light last month while he was making his England debut in the drawn first Test against New Zealand in June.

Robinson said in a statement: “I fully accept the CDC’s decision. As I have said previously, I am incredibly embarrassed and ashamed about the tweets I posted many years ago and apologise unreservedly for their contents.

“I am deeply sorry for the hurt I caused to anyone who read those tweets and in particular to those people to whom the messages caused offence. This has been the most difficult time in my professional career for both my family and myself.

“Whilst I want to move on, I do want to use my experience to help others in the future through working with the PCA.”

ECB Chief Executive Officer Tom Harrison said: “We accept the decisions made by the Cricket Discipline Commission and the sanctions they have imposed.

“Ollie has acknowledged that, whilst published a long time ago when he was a young man, these historic tweets were unacceptable. He has engaged fully in the disciplinary process, admitted the charges, has received his sanction from the CDC and will participate in training and use his experiences to help others.

“Given he has served the suspension handed down by the CDC, he will now be available for selection for England again.

“We stand against discrimination of all forms, and will continue working to ensure cricket is a welcoming and inclusive sport for all.”

A statement from the CDC said: “In coming to its decision, the panel took into account a number of factors including the nature and content of the tweets, the breadth of their discrimination, their widespread dissemination in the media and the magnitude of the audience to whom they became available.

“The panel also considered there was significant mitigation, including the time that had elapsed since the tweets were posted, and a number of personal references which demonstrated that Robinson, who chose to address the Panel, is a very different person to the one who sent the tweets.

“It also took account of his remorse, admissions and cooperation as well as the huge impact which the revelation of these tweets and its consequences have had upon him and his family.

“The panel also considered that there was a real opportunity for Robinson, by speaking of his experiences, to have a valuable and positive impact upon others both inside and outside the cricketing community.

“With his willing agreement, it therefore also made a strong recommendation that Robinson participates in all training programmes in both the use of social media and in respect of anti-discrimination as directed by the Professional Cricketers’ Association (PCA) over the next two years. This includes undertaking any training himself which the PCA considers appropriate for these purposes.”

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