England fast bowler Jofra Archer's breach of bio-secure protocols ahead of the second Test against West Indies could've proven disastrous, costing ECB "tens of millions of pounds" in case Archer's carelessness had led to the cancellation of the match, said board's director of men's cricket, Ashley Giles.
Archer was dropped for the Test in Manchester just hours before the start of play on Thursday (July 16), with the news that the Barbados-born quick had broken the rules that help sustain the bio-secure bubble amid COVID-19 pandemic.
The nature of the violation wasn't cleared, but media reports say that the bowler had gone to his flat in Brighton before arrival at the Old Trafford.
Did Archer come in contact with the rest of his teammates and why were players allowed to travel on their own and not as a team at the first place are two big questions that remain unanswered?
"This could have been a disaster," Giles told British media. "The ripple effect this could have had through the whole summer could have cost us tens of millions of pounds."
"The potential knock-on effect I don't think he could have understood. He's a young man, young men make mistakes. He has to learn from them."
Archer was quoted apologising for his mistake and will now commence five days of isolation. He will have to twice test COVID-19 negative before rejoining the side for the third Test.
England's head coach Chris Silverwood said Archer still has the backing of the team management and the entire squad.
"He knows he has done that and we will support him the best we can,” Silverwood said. "He's got five days stuck in a hotel room, so we've got to make sure he's alright from a well-being point of view, that we look after him."
(Inputs from Reuters)
