‘We've had to face up to some ugly truths and there will be challenges’ – Joe Root after Ollie Robinson’s suspension

The controversy surrounding the debutant pacer Ollie Robinson has caused havoc in the cricket fraternity. Robinson came under fire after his offensive tweets from 2012 and 2013 went viral on social media. Since the tweets made by the right-arm quick were deemed “racist and sexist”, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) took a tough call as they suspended the seamer from all formats of international cricket.

The controversial episode has also caused uneasiness and distress among other players. As the ECB has promised to pay individual attention to all such incidents, old tweets by star players like Eoin Morgan, James Anderson, and Jos Buttler have come under the scanner. Ahead of the second Test match against New Zealand, England’s Test skipper Joe Root opened up on the matter saying that these are challenging times for the team.

However, the skipper claimed that all the players have been supportive and are looking forward to it in a positive way. “We want to move forward in a really positive way. We’ve had to face up to some ugly truths this past week or so and there will be challenges moving forward. But the group of players we have now is very much committed to moving the game forward, to making it a better place, making it more inclusive, and educating ourselves further.

“We’re going to have to face up to what has happened, but ultimately we want to move forward in a really positive way, to keep going on this journey we’ve started by trying to better our sport. We will continue to do that because that’s how we all feel,” Root said ahead of the second Test against New Zealand from June 10.

We’re very keen to make change, and to take the game in a really positive direction: Joe Root 

Further in the interaction, the Test skipper asserted that the players want to learn from this incident and make the England cricket team a better place for people belonging to all races and colours. Root added that they are currently placed at the top and there are millions of people who look up to them. Thus, Root believes that it’s their responsibility to lead from the front and take the game in a positive direction.

“All we want to do as a side is keep trying to find ways of making it better, making it more inclusive, as diverse as we can, and a game for everyone. We’ve spent a long time talking about it – how we can make a change, how we can make a difference.

“As players at the top of the sport, we know that it’s going to feed down from what we do. We’re very aware of that and we’re very keen to make change, and to take the game in a really positive direction,” Root concluded.