Ollie Robinson faces ban and fine for old tweets, England set to include another pacer - Reports

Despite an impressive debut, England pacer Ollie Robinson is in line for a ban, a fine or a combination of both for his resurfaced racist and sexist tweets.

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has promised an investigation into the matter after the conclusion of the Lord's Test between England and New Zealand on Sunday.

The probe will look into Ollie Robinson's conditions of employment as an England cricketer. It could also result in the ECB deciding to avoid any further action. But that course of action remains highly unlikely given ECB chief executive Tom Harrison’s ‘zero tolerance’ response when the 8-year-old tweets came to light on the first day of Ollie Robinson’s international career.

According to the Daily Mail, a ban from the second Test at Edgbaston remains the most likely way forward. The report adds that the ECB is now looking at including an extra seamer in the squad to replace Ollie Robinson. Lancashire’s Saqib Mahmood and Durham's Brydon Carse are in the fray.

The development will mar one of the most brilliant debuts for England in a long time. Ollie Robinson has been the pick of the bowlers in the ongoing Test with his six crucial wickets, including Devon Conway and Kane Williamson on Saturday, to keep the visitors from running away with the game.

If we are looking at just on field cricket matters then Ollie Robinsons debut is as impressive as we have seen for a long time for England ... he looks a player we should see a lot more of going forward #ENGvsNZ

— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) June 5, 2021

The 27-year-old also scored an impressive 42-run cameo earlier in the day and helped England avoid a follow-on.

Yorkshire distances itself from Ollie Robinson's tweets

Tom Harrison Statement: Ollie Robinson

— England and Wales Cricket Board (@ECB_cricket) June 2, 2021

Ollie Robinson's unsavory tweets as a teenager date back to 2013 when he was trialing with Yorkshire. The county has now also distanced itself from the tweets, saying it was unaware of the social media posts before the pacer signed with them.

"Ollie Robinson signed a junior professional contract with Yorkshire on September 19, 2013 before leaving in July 2014, playing three List A and seven T20 matches. The club was unaware of these posts on Ollie’s social media channels before he signed and strongly condemn such comments. There is no place in our society or in our sport for racism or sexism," said a Yorkshire spokesperson in a statement.

Ollie Robinson recently released an honest statement urging the board and the public not to let the immature tweets come in the way of his international career. But many in England fear that the pacer will be made an example to support the under-fire ECB's anti-racism stance.