Monty Panesar: Ollie Robinson should be allowed to continue playing cricket

3 June 2021, 15:40

Cricketer Ollie Robinson should be allowed to continue playing the sport having publicly apologised for racist and sexist tweets he posted just under a decade ago as a teenager, ex-England player Monty Panesar has told LBC.

Mr Robinson, who is now 27-years-old, has said he is "embarrassed" and "ashamed" by the tweets.

In a statement, he said: "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.

"I want to make it clear that I'm not racist and I'm not sexist. I deeply regret my actions, and I am ashamed of making such remarks.

"I was thoughtless and irresponsible, and regardless of my state of mind at the time, my actions were inexcusable. Since that period, I have matured as a person and fully regret the tweets."

Speaking to LBC's Shelagh Fogarty about the situation, Mr Panesar said the public posts in question were "completely unacceptable".

However, he added: "If this was said let's say three months ago, I think definitely ban him, he cannot play this test match and there needs to be some sort of repercussions.

"[But] because this was nine years ago and you can see the difference in him as a human being now and it's something he's apologised [for] publicly, I think he should continue to play."