England speedster Jofra Archer was dropped ahead of the second Test against the West Indies for breaking the team’s bio-secure protocol. The right-arm bowler will now undergo two COVID-19 tests during a five-day isolation period.
Archer has, however, apologised for his mistake.
Although, England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) didn’t reveal the exact reason but ‘BBC Test Match Special’ revealed that Bridgetown-born paceman had visited his home after the first Test.
“I am extremely sorry for what I have done. I have put, not only myself but the whole team and management in danger. I fully accept the consequences of my actions, and I want to apologise to everyone in the bio-secure bubble,” said Archer.
He added: ”It deeply pains me to be missing the Test match, especially with the series poised. I feel like I have let both teams down, and again I am sorry.”
Archer’s irresponsible behaviour didn’t go down well with former England cricketers, Michael Atherton and Nasser Hussain. Atherton criticised the 25-year-old stating that not only Archer has lost his place ahead of the vital Test but also put risk on ECB’s hard work.
“It’s very foolish for several reasons. One, it cost him a place in the team. Secondly, it’s thrown England’s plans into disarray, a vital Test match that they must win to try and win this series,” Atherton said on the Sky Sports Cricket broadcast.
“And thirdly it’s put at risk all the work that ECB have done. These six Test matches, three against West Indies, three against Pakistan, they’ve had to do a tremendous amount of work to get these games on,” he added.
Just like Atherton, Nasser too expressed his displeasure stating that Archer has made a terrible mistake and he can’t risk infecting anyone.
“It is naive and silly to get it wrong because of the effort that’s gone in, and the health risk – this is a serious illness, and you cannot risk infecting anyone. We don’t know if it was just a naivety from Jofra or if it was something more serious. He has apologised, it is a very unusual situation that we all find ourselves in, and he’s made a mistake,” said Nasser.
“His team-mates will be disappointed, as will his captain Joe Root, (But) cricketers just move on very quickly. More importantly, for Joe Root, you park. Once someone’s done something like this on a Test match morning, you completely park that and leave it with management. Joe Root will be focusing on the toss and the team. There are some difficult decisions for Joe Root, not what you need as a captain on the first morning of the Test,” added Nasser.
