Kent’s Ollie Robinson issues clarification after namesake’s tweets lead to erroneous article
Kent cricketer Oliver Graham Robinson was compelled to issue a clarification on social media after an erroneous story mistook him for his namesake Ollie Robinson, England’s newest Test quick.
As remarkable coincidences go, Robinson also shares his birthday with the England seamer. Soon after the other Robinson became England’s Test cap No.699, racist and sexist tweets from the Sussex player’s account resurfaced.
The tweets, from 2012 and 2013, took the cricket community by storm, and by the end of his first day in Test cricket, Robinson read out a prepared statement apologising for his comments.
While mainstream media extensively carried the news, Kent’s Robinson was caught in the crossfire for no fault of his, when a story in Kent Online mentioned him instead, while covering the story of the historic tweets.
— Ollie Robinson (@OllieRobinson7) June 2, 2021
It reached a point where the domestic cricketer had to take to social media to issue a clarification. He emphasised that was “not the one that has been getting referenced today in the media” for the tweets.
“Unfortunately, today people have been getting me confused with the other Ollie Robinson,” read the statement from the 22-year-old wicketkeeper. “We both share the same name, birthday and play the same game. However, I am not the one that has been getting referenced today in the media with regards historic social media posts.”
Kent, too, tweeted out a clarification, stating: “We are aware of an article which has incorrectly confused Kent Cricket’s Ollie Robinson with his Sussex and England namesake. We are in touch with the publication concerned.”
We are aware of an article which has incorrectly confused Kent Cricket’s Ollie Robinson with his Sussex and England namesake.
We are in touch with the publication concerned.
— Kent Cricket (@KentCricket) June 2, 2021
The publication has since amended the story with a retraction, apologising for the error. “An earlier version of this article mistakenly referred to current Kent cricketer Ollie Robinson,” reads a footnote in the article, “who shares the same birthday as his namesake. We sincerely apologise for the error.”
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