‘It’s foolish, put at risk all of ECB’s hard work’- Michael Atherton slams Jofra Archer for breach of protocols before Manchester Test

Michael Atherton, the former England cricketer, has lashed out Jofra Archer, calling him “foolish” for breaching the bio-security protocols of the national cricket team. On the morning of the second Test against the West Indies at the Old Trafford in Manchester, the Barbados-born Archer was ruled out of the match after being included in the 13-man squad on Wednesday.

Atherton understands that for the Brits, the series is on the line after the hosts lost the opening Test in Southampton by four wickets. The ECB has released a statement, saying that Archer would be needing to go to a five-day self-isolation.

He could only return to the field after two negative tests. Atherton didn’t mince any words in saying that Archer’s actions could undo all the hard work the ECB has put in for the series.

Atherton hits out at Jofra Archer

“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,” Atherton was quoted as saying 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 stated.

An ECB spokesperson said that Archer breached the protocols while travelling from the Rose Bowl to the Old Trafford. It’s learned that he stopped off en route his home in Brighton and it came to light only after the squad was announced. Jofra Archer later apologised for the mishap and accepted the consequences of his actions.

Atherton also explained why the players aren’t in a position to break any protocol. “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 are worth about 20 million pounds to the ECB, the international summer as a whole about 180 million pound, that’s money for the game. So, they can’t afford the players to break protocols,” Atherton added.