England quick Jofra Archer, who had to self-isolate after breaching bio-secure protocols during the ongoing England-West Indies Test series, has called out the media for its “utter foolishness” in amplifying the situation.
Archer, 25, was excluded from the Manchester Test after taking a detour to his home while traveling from Southampton. He had to therefore undergo a five-day period of self-isolation and take two Covid-19 tests, both of which returned negative. He has since been cleared to play in the third Test.
Archer accepted he put the entire squad at risk with his actions, and apologised to “his team-mates, to the West Indies team and to everyone involved in the series”.
[breakout id=”0″][/breakout]
“Yes, I made a mistake in not driving to Old Trafford directly from Southampton between matches,” Archer wrote in a column for Daily Mail. “But people make mistakes. 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.”
However, he did point out the media’s role in magnifying the whole incident in his column, rubbishing a story that claimed he was seen on a scooter, which, incidentally, was reported by the same publication last week.
Jofra Archer has received a fine and an official written warning after breaching bio-secure protocols.
He will be available for the third Test at Old Trafford.#EngvWI pic.twitter.com/ghZdjG2kxd
— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) July 18, 2020
“The only people that have amplified things are outside the bubble on social media,” Archer wrote. “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.”
After a second negative Covid-19 test, Archer rejoined the England squad on Tuesday, and said he wants to “move on” from the incident ahead of the third Test in Manchester.
“Now I have done my time, it’s over, and I am trying to move on,” he wrote. “I accepted my punishment of a match fee fine at the disciplinary hearing on Friday evening, and it was pretty painless.”
