OT - Ollie Robinson
Very OT this one but it does, in a way, relate to potential issues down the road.
Is it right for Ollie Robinson to be suspended by a few tweets sent when he was 18? The tweets certainly aren't acceptable but given the duration since they were posted the punishment does seem to be on the hard side. also it shows there must be people now trawling through every social media posting looking for something this is not acceptable given the amount some people tweet etc you really must be determined to find something.
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Not the worst thing an England cricketer has posted on Twitter.
I'm disappointed that the ECB haven't identified this as an issue in advance and helped Ollie Robinson before it was in the media.
He shouldn't have written what he did, but I don't think he should be suspended.
Should have been picked up earlier but understandable that the muck raking starts at that level. Leaving him out for one game so they can say they aren't ignoring it entirely seems appropriate tbh.
Agreed - drop him for 1 test to show they take it seriously, that being 18 isn't really an excuse for being racist (or at least making racist jokes) and support the anti online abuse campaign. Then hopefully that is the end of it and he can play in the India matches.
On the one hand who goes through 8 year old tweets? If the player knew the limelight was coming onto him why did he not think to have a cleanup?
I can’t remember who the player was but I recall a few years ago a lad scored against Manchester Utd in an FA cup game. The spotlight shone on him and I looked at his emotions on Twitter which was charming. I took a quick look at who he was following on Twitter just out of interest. Pretty much all porn stars.
AG that's sort of my point why it is relevant to WWFC. I would suggest that whenever we sign a player this is done or suggested to the player.
Ollie's tweets are / were very wrong but it was 9 years ago and I'm guessing he's a different person now to any 18 year-old.
I would hope hope we (WWFC) ensure things like this don't put us in the headlines for the wrong reasons - yes I know and England cricketer is a MUCH higher profile than a League 1 footballer but you never know when they could make the headlines for the right reasons, you just don't want the wrong reasons to come back and haunt them.
The sad thing is there are journalists out there who grew up dreaming of breaking a huge story, who paid a lot of money to get a good set of qualifications and experiences, and now find themselves scrolling thru old social media posts.
The government sticking in its neb without the full facts irritates me. They should let the authorities investigate fully and make their decision.
You know what’s worse. They probably had this information months or if not years ago sat in some grubby file waiting for the ‘right’ moment. I suspect if he had deleted them a week or so ago they would of had screen grabs to run the story anyway.
Not that I like to spoil everyone's idea of the files The Man has on all of us lest we ever get famous, I suspect it is far more likely scenario that someone who knows him and/or does not like him made a few bob by pointing some jaded tabloid hack in the right direction. Grubby as the job may be I doubt most sports journalists spend any time trawling through the past social media of every young player.
I’d have thought they’d have some automated tool that finds usage of words in tweets. Then they only have to look at those specific tweets, and probably do a bit more digging if they find something.
It’s a bit rich of papers like the Sun and the Mail to criticise him when they publish worse things now let alone 8 years ago.
I don't watch cricket, but isn't it standard procedure to suspend someone pending investigation, especially if they're in a public-facing role?
I think that this is a case of "he/her without twattery during his/her teens, cast the first stone". I look back on my teenage years/early twenties, (no internet/social media then), and often wonder how the hek am I still even alive today with some of the sheer stupidity I got up to. I am today a totally different person & wouldn't take too kindly judging my yesteryears by todays standards.
BTW, I really dislike cricket!
Like @EwanHoosaami i often wonder how I survived the sheer stupidity of my youth. Unlike @EwanHoosaami i also continually wonder how I survive the sheer stupidity of my current, late-middle age having failed miserably to actually mentally mature in the intervening 40+ years (BTW test cricket is still the ultimate achievement of Homo Sapiens as a species).
I also find it slightly interesting that the leaking of Robinson’s tweets comes a day or so after Twitter announce a subscription service allowing you to delete your ancient tweets…
Not exactly sure of the content but scraping out something a teen has written many years ago can't be right.
I'm sure all of us are glad such online things didn't exist in those yonder years.
You guys think you were bad - you should have seen me as a three year old! Out of control.
He has not been executed...he has been suspended while an investigation takes place into the whole thing. Press whips everyone up about the tweets...then whips everyone up about the response to the tweets. Double bubble.
The bigger focus from authorities shouldn't be decade old tweets from different eras but should be on the seemingly massive resurgence of racist stuff spewed out anonymously to seemingly any high profile black sportsperson if their team loses, or just generally even.
It may be me (and it probably is) but aren't the optics a bit poor for the Government loudly keen to reinstate a sportsman suspended for supposed racism, while twisting and squirming to try and avoid taking any sort of stand on England fans booing of the taking of the knee?
He has admitted he was a bit of dickhead at that age (there for the grace of god go I), and he was actually fired by Yorkshire CC for ill-discipline when about 20, and he should have tidied things up.
I think most of us could say we were dickheads around about that age....
Advice please, guys. I have been trying hard to counter a mate’s description of the current England Test squad as “a bunch of no hopers”. He cites the selection of two “geriatric” opening bowlers (still as good as most, in my opinion) as evidence of how bare the cupboard is. He dislikes Robinson’s “OTT” celebration when dismissing a batsman and claims that he shouts “fuck off” in their faces. Has anyone else seen that? I watched footage this morning and couldn’t find any evidence. To me, that would be totally unacceptable and, listening to James O’Brien’s LBC phone in this morning, not one caller mentioned it.
My mate reckons the Aussies must be laughing their heads off and he’s thinking of changing his name to Bruce and wearing a slouch hat, whatever that is.
Meanwhile, I’m thinking of sticking my neck out and suggesting that we will win the Edgbaston Test. I feel like glass half full to his half empty.
I'm with @EwanHoosaami and others in being glad not to have my teenage twattery in the public domain. And with @bookertease about the post-teenage twattery, too.
The sole reason I'm not an international sportsman is because I couldn't bear the weight of the skeletons that would have fallen out of the cupboard onto me. Thank goodness I didn't have Twitter in my grip when I was younger.
That does sound a bit like a letter to an Agony Aunt!
This seems much more likely to be the case.
My post of course @HCblue ! You nipped in a bit quick!
Works perfectly well for mine, too.
No particular advice from me, @micra, but I'll say that the cupboard might seem a bit less bare if we stopped resting players for a month every time they play a match. Freddie Trueman and Trevor Bailey must be turning in their graves.
Fred Trueman played 67 tests in his career. Broad has played 147 and Anderson 161.
@micra .. not once did I see Robinson shout "fuck off" to a batsman, I reckon your mate just doesn't like him, he celebrated no worse than any other bowler does. As for Anderson and Broad they are still 2 of our best bowlers and should be in the team in English conditions, as should Woakes in my opinion.
As for Robinson, I agree with others, he's been harshly treated and I think they are just trying to make it look like they have done something. I'm also glad social media wasn't around when I was 18 !
Per cricinfo:
In a twenty-one year first class career, Trueman bowled 114,789 balls
In a twenty year career, Anderson has bowled close to 109,000 (including list A and 20/20 games)
In a sixteen year career, Broad has bowled about 90,000 (same inclusions as Anderson).
My point was, in any event, not so much about those two - I'm amazed they are still going at their ages and delighted that they have sustained such a high standard so late into their thirties. I have a much harder time understanding why batsmen (with Buttler being the most obvious example) are being rested so frequently with so little obvious reason.