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Mark Ramprakash Slams British Pm For His Support Towards Ollie Robinson

Mark Ramprakash slams British PM for his support towards Ollie Robinson

Former England middle-order batsman Mark Ramprakash feels that British Prime minister Boris Johnson’s intervention regarding Ollie Robinson’s suspension from international cricket was unwelcome.

Britain’s sports minister Oliver Dowden had tweeted that the decision to suspend Robinson based on some tweets which were posted by the fast bowler almost a decade ago was not justifiable from ECB. Meanwhile a spokesperson for Britain PM stated that the PM is supportive of Dowden’s views.

Robinson who made his Test debut against New Zealand only last week had posted some racist and sexist tweets back in 2012 when he was 18. After the tweets surfaced, Robinson publicly apologised for his conduct. ECB decided to suspend him from the second Test as they will further investigate on the matter. Meanwhile, one more English player had posted racist tweets but his name hasn’t been disclosed as he was only 16 when back then.

When asked on the BBCI Breakfast Show about his opinion on the PM’s involvement Ramprakash expressed his displeasure at Boris Johnson coming up and trying to support Robinson.

“I think it is very unwelcome. He himself has used racist language, against Muslim people, against black people. He is trying to bear undue influence in this case. If I was Ollie Robinson I’m not sure I’d want Boris Johnson involved and trying to support me,” Ramprakash said.

While Ramprakash feels that it's okay for someone to speak up on the character changes that Robinson underwent in the last 9 years, he is surprised to know that not many have questioned who the tweets were aimed at. Ramprakash feels that the dressing room environment would have been toxic had Moeen Ali and Jofra Archer been present there.

“I’ve heard people express sort of sympathy with Ollie Robinson, and say ‘hasn’t he shown a lot of character?’, but I haven’t heard enough about the victims or the people that these tweets are aimed at,” said Ramprakash.

“How do they feel? Where is the sympathy for those people? They are UK citizens, a lot of them. We live in a diverse society and we really don’t want this behaviour,” he added.

Robinson’s impressive Test debut where he picked up seven wickets was totally overshadowed by the tweets which resurfaced on Wednesday afternoon, the day he was making his Test debut against New Zealand at Lord’s.

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