“Robinson will leave the England camp immediately and return to his county,” it added. The paceman led England’s attack with 4-75 in the first innings at Lord’s and followed up with 3-26 in the second while in between making a useful 42 with the bat. But he found himself making an unreserved apology after stumps on Wednesday, his first day in Test cricket, for tweets that included comments suggesting Muslim people were linked to terrorism, and derogatory remarks about women and people of Asian heritage.
His messages re-emerged on after both teams lined up before play on Wednesday for a ‘Moment of Unity’ designed to show their opposition to discrimination, with England wearing T-shirts stating ‘Cricket is a game for everyone’. “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,” Robinson said after Wednesday’s close. “I want to make it clear that I’m not racist and I’m not sexist.” England captain Joe Root speaking after stumps on Sunday but before Robinson’s suspension had been announced, said of the tweets: “I couldn’t believe them, personally.” Root, however, added Robinson had shown a “lot of remorse” that was “very genuine”.
– ‘Exceptional debut’ –
Turning to Robinson’s first match as a Test cricketer, on the field at Lord’s, the skipper said: “From a performance point of view, on the field, he has had an exceptional debut…He’s showed high levels of skill and he’s definitely got the game that can be successful in Test cricket.” Root, however, insisted: “In regards to the stuff that’s happened off the field, it’s not acceptable within our game. We all know that.” As for suggestions that the ECB should have investigated Robinson’s social media history prior to his England debut, Root said: “We can look back about how this could have been handled better, but the fact is it shouldn’t have happened. “And if we continue to keep trying to better the game right now, then in years to come this shouldn’t be an issue. “We’ve got to move forward from this, learn from this and do everything we can to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”