CRICKET

England may review players’ social media posts, says Thorpe

England’s Ollie Robinson playing in his first Test match. (Reuters/Andrew Couldridge)

By: Sattwik Biswal

ENGLAND may soon review players’ social media history before naming them in squads, batting coach Graham Thorpe has said.

This comes after fast bowler Ollie Robinson’s racist and sexist tweets of the past came to light during his Test debut this week. The 27-year-old apologised for his tweets from 2012-2013 that went viral on the day of his Test debut against New Zealand at Lord’s.

“If something like this has happened, it’s clearly something going forward that might need to be looked at so that a day like yesterday doesn’t happen,” Thorpe said on Thursday (4).

The England and Wales Cricket Board has said it will investigate the incident as part of its disciplinary process.

Thorpe said Robinson, who picked up four wickets in the first innings, understood his mistake and received support from the dressing room after his apology.

“He had to be pretty resilient because of what he’s done,” Thorpe said.

“It’s not easy to go back out onto the stage and perform and I thought his level of performance was exceptional in that first innings.”