England pacer Jofra Archer on Wednesday (July 22) said his violation of the bio-secure protocol was an error of judgment and not a crime.
See Also: Jofra Archer reveals facing racial abuse over bio-secure protocols breach
Archer had made an unauthorised trip to his home in Hove after the first Test against West Indies in Southampton. As a consequence, he was dropped from the side for the second Test at Old Trafford and in addition fined the value of his match fee.
Moreover, the 25-year-old was forced to isolate for five days and undergo two COVID-19 tests before being allowed to rejoin the squad.
"Yes, I made a mistake in not driving to Old Trafford directly from Southampton between matches. But people make mistakes," Jofra wrote in his column for the Daily Mail.
"Between Test matches, I spoke to a member of the support staff about what I had done, not knowing whether it was the right thing to do. I understood that had to be escalated to senior management.
"We knew we had to go to Manchester via certain points. I didn't. To me, home is home. A safe place. I picked some stuff up, dropped some stuff off. It was no big deal.
"I accept that I put the other guys at risk. I did not follow the advice and therefore apologised to my team-mates, to the West Indies team and to everyone involved in the series.
"Now I have done my time, it's over, and I am trying to move on. I accepted my punishment of a match fee fine at the disciplinary hearing on Friday evening and it was pretty painless.
"When I walked outside of my room for the first time since being placed into self-isolation for breaking the Covid-19 protocols, I heard the cameras clicking with every single step I took. The whole spectacle made me feel uneasy. I know what I did was an error of judgement and I have suffered the consequences of that. I haven't committed a crime and I want to start feeling myself again," he added.
Jofra Archer is available to play in the third and final Test. His return will also bolster England’s chances of winning the series after the hosts won the second Test by 113 runs and levelled the series 1-1.
England skipper Joe Root has also made it clear that Archer’s mistake would not be held against him at the time of team selection.
Archer said the issue was blown out of proportion by people on social media. He, however, was glad to receive support from his teammates, including the captain Root and deputy Ben Stokes.
"The only people that have amplified things are outside the bubble on social media. I could not believe what I was reading in one newspaper. Someone said they saw me on a scooter. My scooter stopped working in December. It's been flat for seven months now. That was utter foolishness to suggest such a thing," he wrote.
"It wasn't a pleasant experience to be confined to my hotel room for five days even though I had my Xbox and workout stuff with me so I could make the most of a bad situation.
"But most of my team-mates showed their support by getting in touch. I played Call of Duty with several of them and Joe Root checked in on me with a call daily. I thank those that have stuck by me.
"I spoke briefly to the doctor about how I'm feeling and also to Ben Stokes on Monday night. Ben tried to advise me on how to deal with being in the spotlight of international sport. He vowed to back me and support me. Now, I need to be 100 per cent mentally right so that I can throw myself into my cricket this week," he further remarked.
