Ollie Robinson talks about his old racist tweets

England speedster Ollie Robinson made a sound Test debut against New Zealand at Lord's, bagging seven wickets in the match. However, while the cricketing world was beginning to heap praise on the English debutant, some of his old 'sexist, racist, Islamophobic and offensive' tweets resurfaced on Twitter, which overshadowed his performance.  

The 28-year-old was fined 3,200 pounds ($4,400) and handed an eight-game ban, five of which were suspended for two years. Robison, meanwhile, recently opened up on the incident and said he was "living a bit of a drunk life", and now he understands how people must have felt after reading all the tweets he had done between 2012-2014.

"When the tweets resurfaced. I felt like I was different already. But I looked at myself and thought: 'Do I still have those views? Am I still that person?" said Robison while speaking to Wisden. 

"I might have turned a corner four or five years ago, but have I got better? Are there bits of those tweets that are still in me?

"I was living a bit of a drunk life back then. My parents had divorced, and I was going out three or four times a week with my mates, joy-riding at night, living a different life from that person I feel I am now. So I understand why people were shocked," he added.

The former Test captain of England, Joe Root, condemned the acts saying that Ollie Robinson's controversial tweets were "not acceptable" within the game. However, he also lauded the speedster for his on-field performances against New Zealand at the Home of Cricket in the drawn Test.  

"But regarding the stuff that's happened off the field, it's not acceptable within our game. We all know that. The most important thing is that Ollie is part of this dressing room, and we had to support him." 

Robinson added: "It was nice I had their support. They told me that's not who I am. I was having doubts – that I was the worst human ever."

Robinson made an impressive return to international cricket, picking up a five-wicket haul (5/85) in the first innings of the series opener against India at Trent Bridge. His mind-boggling performance on the field saw him named as one of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Year, along with  Jasprit Bumrah, Rohit Sharma, Devon Conway and Dane van Niekerk.