An earlier version of this article mistakenly referred to current Kent cricketer Ollie Robinson, who shares the same birthday as his namesake. We sincerely apologise for the error.

A cricketer from Kent has said he 'regrets' sexist and racist tweets, the same day he makes his England debut.

Today should have been a day of celebration for Margate-born Ollie Robinson, who played for Kent 2nds as a teenager and went to Kings School in Canterbury.

The 27-year-old played his first day of Test cricket for England at Lord's against New Zealand, taking 2-50, but his performance has been overshadowed by resurfaced tweets.

Robinson posted racist and sexist tweets in 2012 and 2013, when he was aged 18 and 19.

The fast bowler issued a statement via the England and Wales Cricket Board website as public criticism mounted.

It reads: "On the biggest day of my career so far, I am embarrassed by the racist and sexist tweets that I posted over eight years ago, which have today become public. I want to make it clear that I'm not racist and I'm not sexist.

"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.

"Today should be about my efforts on the field and the pride of making my Test debut for England, but my thoughtless behaviour in the past has tarnished this."

Adding that his experiences in the world of cricket have matured him, he said: "I would like to unreservedly apologise to anyone I have offended, my teammates and the game as a whole, in what has been a day of action and awareness in combating discrimination from our sport."

Robinson states he will seek to educate himself further, before concluding "I am sorry, and I have certainly learned my lesson today."

After being released by Yorkshire in 2014, Robinson came to prominence at Sussex where he has taken wickets regularly for the past couple of seasons.

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