England team has accepted Robinson's apology: Anderson

Ollie Robinson's might not look back at his international debut fondly but he has garnered support from his teammates. Speaking to the media ahead of the second Test, James Anderson said that the team has unanimously accepted Ollie Robinson's apology for posting racist and sexist tweets as a teenager nine years ago. Anderson also expressed support for the suspended pacer on behalf of the side.

Asked whether Robinson's apology has been accepted by the team or are some players still uneasy about it, Anderson said, "No, I think it's been accepted."

"He stood up in front of the group and apologised and you could see how sincere he was and upset he was, and I think as a group we appreciate that he is a different person now. He's done a lot of maturing and growing since then, and he's got the full support of the team."

While the ECB has suspended Robinson pending an inquiry, the political class including the cultural secretary of the UK and the Prime Minister's office itself has deemed the suspension as "over the top".

Talking about the impact of the player's suspension on the team, Anderson said, "Well yeah, I think it's a... you know it is a difficult time. I think as players we're trying to learn from this really."

"We realise that it's important to try and get educated around these issues, which we're continuing to do with the ECB and the PCA (Professional Cricketers' Association) we've already been doing workshops before this series to try and help improve ourselves as people basically, to try and make sure that this sort of thing doesn't happen."

At the close of the first day's play at Lord's, the 27-year-old Robinson apologised and said he was going through a difficult period in his life when he posted the tweets as an 18-year-old.

"I want to make it clear that I'm not racist and I'm not sexist," Robinson had said.

"I deeply regret my actions, and I am ashamed of making such remarks. I was thoughtless and irresponsible, and regardless of my state of mind at the time, my actions were inexcusable.

"Since that period, I have matured as a person and fully regret the tweets." However, his apology was not enough as the ECB suspended him after the end of the first Test while initiating a disciplinary investigation.

As a result, Robinson will not be available for the second Test that which begins at Edgbaston on Thursday.