Negligent Jofra Archer has let himself and his team down

I was pretty confident that it would be the last ‘anti-Archer’ article that I would write in the near future. Well, I was wrong. I was so wrong. He doesn’t make life easier for himself, does he? Here I am, just a couple of days later, about to once again verbally maraud the speedster. This time, though, I have no regrets. And I believe that it’s time that sportsmen like Archer are called out and held responsible for their negligence and callousness during these times of despair. 

Righto, what’s the whole issue then? Last night, after naming the squad for the second Test versus the Windies at Old Trafford, it came to the ECB’s attention that Jofra Archer, who they had named as a part of the 13-man squad, had broken ‘bio-bubble protocols’ sometime during the last few days, between Tests. Hours prior to the commencement of the match, today, they released a statement that they were dropping Archer for breaching protocols and were also going to keep him in a five-day isolation period, during which he’ll be undergoing two Covid-19 Tests. 

While the ECB did not, initially, state what the exact ‘breach’ was, it did, however, come to light later that Archer, whilst travelling from Southampton to Manchester via his car, paid a visit to his flat in Hove. According to the ECB’s strict protocols, players were told there must be no breaks in the 230-mile journey bar the use of a designated biosecure county ground for lunch and pre-approved petrol stations. Archer’s actions violated this, as a result of which he was immediately punished by the board. 

Now there are two ways to look at this issue. The first  - which I don’t think is right - is to pass off the whole issue by saying that, “Eh. Leave the poor guy alone. He just went home.”  And the second is to understand the magnitude of what Archer did and realize how he, through the impetuous nature of his actions, has ended up jeopardizing untold amounts of things, not least the health and wellbeing of himself and everyone who were - and still are - a part of the biosecure bubble in which the two teams have been operating. 

Let’s first break down the ‘human’ aspect of this saga. For starters, what Archer did was unacceptable for the simple fact that by breaking protocol and wandering off to his flat and rejoining his teammates inside the bubble, he ended up endangering the health of every single person he came in contact with. And let’s not kid or fool ourselves by just downplaying this as a ‘minor’ offence - the details, such as what he did or what and who he was exposed to, are irrelevant here; this virus has affected over 13 million people worldwide, we know how dangerous and contagious it is. If there were over 30 other players who could follow these ‘strict’ protocols without breaking a sweat, then there was no excuse for Archer not to. 

Then comes the cricketing aspect of it all. To begin with, Archer, through his negligence, might very well have cost England the Old Trafford Test(s), the series and 40 - if not more - World Test Championship points. Thanks to Archer’s laxity, England headed into Old Trafford - which is widely deemed as the fastest and quickest wicket in the country - without a single bowler who could consistently bowl fast. But it’s not just the fact that the side was considerably weakened. England’s plans were thrown out of the window and, ahead of a do-or-die Test, it was a shame that the whole team had to contend with an unpleasant situation that could so easily have been avoided if for some common sense. So much for the team trusting Archer and picking him as a part of the original 13-man squad and so much for them selecting him over Broad in the first Test after they identified him as the chosen one who could help them reclaim the Ashes next year. 

But his actions, yet, could have far more grave consequences. God forbid, should Archer or anyone inside the bubble test positive, we could potentially be looking at the entire series getting abruptly called off. Leaving the money aspect aside - which, as some are speculating, would result in ECB losing over £100m - it would be an absolute shame to see the efforts of so many people - not least the ECB - be reduced to ashes in a matter of seconds.

This was a series that was meant to be historic and groundbreaking - and it has, thus far, delivered - due to the circumstances - it is unthinkable that we are currently witnessing international cricket while the world is still burning - and it would be an absolute catastrophe to see both this tour and the whole sport of cricket be brought to an abrupt end due to the incautiousness of a single person. And if there’s one thing that 2020 has taught us, it’s that one person is all it takes for the whole world to be brought to its knees. 

Telegraph’s Scyld Berry, on Tuesday, questioned why England haven’t begun building the bowling around Archer and are still stuck with Anderson and Broad. Well, I could only hope that the events that unravelled earlier today gave him the answer he was looking for. Archer, at the moment, is simply not mature or professional enough - yet - for the management to be handing him the baton that’s been carried by Anderson and Broad for over a decade.  

It is also kind of unfair to make everything about Archer. If anything, from everything we’ve observed so far this year, it looks like his negligence is just a microcosm of the indiscipline that seems to be inherently existing within a lot of elite sportsmen across the world. “In these peculiar times when we are all craving 'normality' and everything to be back as it was, it's almost comforting that Jofra Archer has proved that professional sportsmen are still effing idiots,” tweeted an unnamed user on Twitter, and, to be fair, if you think about it, he does have a point. 

At a time of crisis were sportspersons were expected to show the way for people, a lot of them have, in fact, ended up doing the exact opposite: they have behaved like knuckleheads and have disgraced both themselves and the sport, as a whole. A month ago, Novak Djokovic arranged the infamous ‘Adria Tour’, a tournament which oversaw the participation of over dozens of players and the presence of spectators who did not observe social distancing or wear masks. And some three months ago, Utah Jazz’s Rudy Gobert-Bourgarel deliberately went about touching mics in press-conferences in what was a gesture that was meant to mock the virus.

The result? Both Djokovic - and along with him, half-a-dozen more Tennis players and their partners - and Rudy Gobert-Bourgarel tested positive for the virus. But these are the unlucky ones. There are also lucky idiots like Alexander Zverev, who partied days after tweeting that he was self-isolating after partaking in the Adria tour, Kyle Walker, who arranged an alleged sex party, and Jack Grealish, who crashed his car in the midst of a lockdown, who escaped without catching the virus. Time will only tell if Archer will be a lucky or an unlucky idiot; I so hope for it to be the former.

Some people play the ‘Sportsmen should not be considered as role models’ card but that is nothing but an excuse that justifies the bad behaviour of athletes. At the end of the day, these are men and women who are professionals who are being watched and followed by millions - which includes kids - worldwide. If athletes feel that they are influential and powerful enough for them to raise their voice against the atrocities happening in the world, then they must also understand that is their moral responsibility to make sure that through their actions, they are setting an example and sending out the right message. Across these past few months, many have talked the talk, but, sadly, only a negligible few have walked the walk.  

Coming back to Archer, though, it would indeed be interesting to see ECB’s stance on this issue. Alex Hales was, especially by Eoin Morgan, publicly admonished, lambasted and completely isolated from the team set-up for betraying the trust of his teammates and ‘almost sabotaging’ the side’s World Cup ambitions not so long ago. Applying the same logic, it could be argued that Archer has committed a far more heinous crime; his actions could yet lead to a calamitous situation where the whole sport could, once again, come to a complete shutdown. Whatever the gravity of the punishment might be, though, Archer should have no complaints; he did the stupid thing, it’s now his turn to face the consequences. 

It is a shame that it has come to this. From the perspective of both Archer and cricket, as a whole, this is an episode that so easily could have been avoided. But what has happened has happened and there is no going back; what we can hope, however, for the umpteenth time, is that this serves as a lesson for both Archer and every cricketer, if not sportsperson, in the world. And let us also hope that this serves as a reality check - and a watershed moment - for Jofra Archer to become a better professional.