Chris Lynn, the Queensland batsman, has become the second Australian cricketer in a week to find himself in trouble over remarks made on Twitter. Queensland Cricket has confirmed it will investigate Lynn’s use of his Twitter account to comment on the assault allegations made against rugby league player Ben Te’o by a Brisbane woman.
Te’o vehemently denies the accusations of assault and police said on Wednesday they were no longer investigating the alleged incident. Lynn tweeted that “The girl accusing Ben Teo is bad news” and then agreed with another tweeter, who had said “She should serve 2 months in jail for her make up! #booyah”. Lynn replied that “She definately (sic) should!” and went on to tweet: “it does my head in …”
Although the tweets have since been deleted, Lynn on Thursday apologised for his comments. “It was inappropriate to express my personal view on a forum like Twitter and I apologise whole-heartedly for that to the individual involved,” Lynn said. “Violence against women is not acceptable and I’m sorry that my words could been seen to condone that.”
Queensland Cricket’s acting chief executive Richard Powell said the organisation would look in to the matter. “Chris has been contacted and has apologised to us for his tweet. But regardless we will now conduct a formal investigation and advise a course of action in due course,” Powell said. “We take such matters seriously and educate our players accordingly. Players are aware of the consequences of their actions on social media or in any other public forums.”
Lynn’s tweets have served as another warning to cricketers about the dangers of posting on Twitter after David Warner was fined A$5750 for his angry tweets at two journalists this week.
