Former England captain and commentator Michael Atherton criticized Jofra Archer for his irresponsible behavior during the ongoing Test series against the West Indies amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Archer was dropped from the England team ahead of the second Test against the West Indies – which is playing at the Old Trafford Cricket Ground from Thursday (July 16), for breaking the team’s bio-secure protocol, as the right-arm bowler had visited his home in Brighton after the first Test in Southampton.
The speedster will now undergo two COVID-19 tests during a five-day isolation period following his mistake in order to be eligible to rejoin the England squad. However, the 25-year-old apologized for the lapse but his irresponsible act in this crisis situation didn’t go down well with many former cricketers.
Reacting to Archer’s mistake, Atherton has termed the pacer’s bio-secure bubble breach “very foolish” while claiming his irresponsible act has not only cost him a place in the team but also “threw England's plans into disarray” as well as put risk on England and Wales Cricket Board’s hard work.
ECB had tried hard to make this ongoing West Indies Test series possible amid the ongoing global COVID-19 pandemic, setting up a bio-secure bubble for the players apart from bio-secure venues for the series.
On the other hand, Archer’s irresponsible act has put a significant blow to England as the hosts have already rested James Anderson and Mark Wood for the second Test.
Atherton said on the Sky Sports Cricket broadcast: “It’s very foolish for a number of 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. And thirdly it’s put at risk all the work that ECB has 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, “Although the protocols might seem very severe, they’ve had to put those in place to get government approval for these games to happen. And as you know, from broadcast purposes, each of these games is worth about 20 million pounds to the ECB, the international summer as a whole about 180 million pounds, that’s money for the game. So they can’t afford the players to break protocols.”
However, the 52-year-old Atherton believes that the matter should be laid to rest after the second Test and Archer should call be recalled for the final Test against the Windies.
Atherton signed off by saying, “He’s been foolish, he’s apologized profusely, and that will be the end of it. He should come back into the side, but he’s been foolish and it’s cost him his place here.”
(With Skysports Inputs)
