Ollie Robinson: Important England players learn from controversy, says James Anderson

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James Anderson is set to break Sir Alastair Cook’s record for England appearances in the second Test against New Zealand, winning his 162nd international match; “It’s been an incredible 15 years. I’m proud to have reached this point.”

James Anderson (left) played with Ollie Robinson in England’s first Test against New Zealand at Lord’s last week.

James Anderson says England players have accepted Ollie Robinson’s apology, but added that the last week has been a “difficult time”, with Robinson suspended by the ECB for offensive tweets he posted when he was 18 years old.

The 27-year-old Robinson, who impressed on the field in his test debut at Lord’s by taking seven wickets and hitting 42 with the bat, is unavailable for selection for England’s second Test against New Zealand from Edgbaston on Thursday.

Robinson said he was “embarrassed” and “embarrassed” when he apologized “unreservedly” for the racist and sexist tweets he posted in 2012 and 2013, which were unearthed last Wednesday, the same day England and New Zealand shared a ‘ Moment of Unity ‘. , with the hosts wearing T-shirts designed as a stand against discrimination of all kinds.

Since then, Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden has called the ECB’s suspension “exaggerated” and urged them to reconsider their decision, a position Prime Minister Boris Johnson “supports”.

“It’s a difficult time,” Anderson told reporters Tuesday. “As players, we are trying to learn from this.

“We realize that it is important to try to educate on these issues, which we continue to do with the ECB and the PCA.

“We’ve already been doing workshops before this series to try to help us improve as a person, basically to try to make sure this kind of thing doesn’t happen.”

Regarding the reaction to Robinson’s apology in the England dressing room, Anderson added: “It has been accepted.

“He stood in front of the group and apologized, and you could see how sincere he was and how upset he was.

“As a group, we appreciate that he is a different person now. He has matured and grown a lot since then and has all the support of the team.

“He’s definitely changed as a person and he’s going to get better, learn from this.”

Former England hitter Michael Carberry says he “does not respect” comments made by sports minister Oliver Dowden.

More news broke Monday night that the ECB is investigating claims that a second England player posted “historical offensive material”, with Wisden unearthing a tweet, posting its content but concealing the identity of the alleged cricketer from England because he was under 16 at the time.

The ECB said in a statement: “We are investigating this and will make a further comment in due course.”

When asked if it was fair for players to be held accountable for those historic social media posts, sent at a young age, Anderson said: “I remember being that age. You make mistakes.

“You are very young and inexperienced, but, as people, we have to try to improve, improve and make sure that this kind of thing does not happen, that people know that it is unacceptable.”

“It doesn’t matter how old you are. You can never know too much. I think it’s very important that we keep doing this, keep buying it, because it’s really important to our game, we want it to be inclusive.” . “

Anderson himself has also circulated a landmark tweet in the last 24 hours and says that he has changed as a person in the last decade.

“It’s something we will definitely have to consider. [historic social media posts]. But if we educate well enough, that language and those tweets won’t get published in the first place.

“The historical thing, for me, was 10, 11 years ago. I have certainly changed as a person since then. That is the difficulty; things change and you make mistakes.”

Anderson made his Test debut at the age of 20 in 2003, while Thursday’s second Test against New Zealand will see the now 38-year-old break Sir Alastair Cook’s record by winning his 162nd international with England. ” if selected “.

“I’m still not sure about the team,” Anderson said. “But I hope I get a chance to do that.

“It’s been an incredible 15 years. Coming this far is incredible and knowing how much Cooky played, I am proud to have made it this far.”

Watch the first day of the second test between England and New Zealand, in Edgbaston, live on Sky Sports Cricket from 10am on Thursday.

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