The England Cricket Board’s (ECB) suspension of England paceman Ollie Robinson has reopened a lengthy history of racist comments by English sportsmen. Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) captain and England limited-overs skipper Eoin Morgan, as well as Rajasthan Royals (RR) wicketkeeper batsman Jos Buttler’s old tweets mocking Indians, are being investigated by the England board a day after the ECB opened an investigation into another unnamed cricketer for offensive tweets.
Morgan and Buttler, according to telegraph.co.uk, ridiculed Indians by using the term “Sir.” A review of Buttler’s tweets reveals that he did use the term “Sir” and wrote in bad English, ostensibly mocking Indians.
On May 18, 2018, Morgan, who took over the KKR leadership from Dinesh Karthik, congratulated him with the word “Sir.” On that day, Buttler hit an unbeaten 94 from 53 balls for Rajasthan Royals. Brendon McCullum, the current head coach of the Kolkata Knight Riders, reportedly insulted the Indians in response to Morgan’s post.
IPL icon and former New Zealand wicketkeeper-batsman McCullum is linked with KKR. When he sent the celebratory tweet, he was playing for Royal Challengers Bangalore.
The board’s decision on whether or not to penalise the couple will be made following the probe, according to the telegraph.co.uk article. Following the suspension of Ollie Robinson, who made his Test debut against New Zealand at Lord’s last week, the trio’s comments went viral. Between 2012 and 2013, Robinson was forced to apologise for his racist and sexist tweets. After he made his Test debut, the tweets went viral.
Meanwhile, England paceman James Anderson is being investigated for a misogynistic tweet he sent in fun in 2010 about his speed bowling partner Stuart Broad. In February 2010, Anderson, 38, tweeted about teammate Stuart Broad, saying, “I saw Broady’s new haircut for the first time today.” I’m not convinced. He reminded me of a 15-year-old lesbian!”
According to the Daily Mail, Anderson said, “For me, it’s 10-11 years ago, I’ve obviously evolved as a person.” And I believe that is the challenge; things change, and errors are made.