'That I was the worst human': Ollie Robinson opens up on 'sexist, Islamophobic' tweets

England pacer Ollie Robinson was recently named as the Wisden Cricketer of the Year in the 2022 edition. The pacer got the award after finishing the 2021 season as England’s leading Test wicket-taker, with 28 scalps.

In an interview with Wisden Cricketers’ Almanac, Ollie Robinson opened up about the racist and sexist tweets which overshadowed his Test debut and saw him serve a ban.

Ollie Robinson ban: England pacer on how things changed after tweets resurfaced

Ollie Robinson had made his test debut against New Zealand at Lord’s last year. The pacer finished the match with nine wickets. However, his memorable Test debut was overshadowed by the re-emergence of his old tweet which he had sent between the ages of 18 and 20. The Cricket Discipline Committee called  Ollie Robinson tweets, “racist, sexist, disablist, Islamophobic and offensive” and had fined and banned Ollie Robinson. The pacer was handed a fine of £3,200 and was banned for eight matches. 

The pacer, in his interview, said, “When the tweets resurfaced. I felt like I was different already. But I looked at myself and thought: ‘Do I still have those views? Am I still that person?’. I might have turned a corner four or five years ago, but have I really got better? Are there bits of those tweets that are still in me? I was living a bit of a drunk life back then. My parents had divorced, and I was going out three or four times a week with my mates, joy-riding at night, living a different life to that person I feel I am now. I understand why people were shocked.”

Ollie Robinson reflects on support from his teammates

When Ollie Robinson's tweets had surfaced last year the cricketer had apologised for his tweets with former England Test skipper Joe Root showing his support to the bowler. The former skipper had said, "Ollie is part of this dressing room and we have to support him. We will try everything we could, we have to try everything, we have to give him the opportunity to learn and to understand it and he has to do betters." 

During the interview, Robinson thanked his friends and teammates for their support during such a difficult time. He said, “It was nice I had their support. They told me that’s not who I am. I was having doubts – that I was the worst human ever.”