Jofra Archer’s COVID-19 breach could have cost us tens of million pounds, admits Ashley Giles

Logistically, England’s series against West Indies started off on the right track, with a bio-secure environment at the Rose Bowl in Southampton. However, jitters started soon after the end of the first Test, with Jofra Archer stopping at his place in Brighton en-route travelling to Manchester for the second Test. 

Immediately, the pacer was dropped from the squad for the second Test, with a five-day compulsory quarantine period and undergo two COVID-19 tests before he could be eligible for selection. ECB’s director of cricket, Ashley Giles talked about the incident, where he revealed that Archer’s breach could have cost the board tens of million pounds. However, apart from the quarantine period, the ECB have not levied any kind of penalty or punishment on the pacer. 

"This could have been a disaster. The ripple effect this could have had through the whole summer could have cost us tens of millions of pounds," Giles told British media.

"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. There has to be a consequence to every action and there will be a process we go through. There will be a disciplinary process. That is as much as I want to say on that as it is an employment matter," he added. 

Michael Holding, who is one of the regular features in the series questioned ECB’s bio-secure protocols, which allowed Archer a sneak away in the middle of the series. Holding also admitted that the English cricketing board should look at avoiding such mistakes before he suggested that the entire team could travel in the team bus. 

"Why aren't the England team travelling on a bus? If they have already passed their Covid tests, everyone is together, they have six Test matches, they are moving from one venue to the other," he said, reported TOI. 

"Why aren't they all just in a bus travelling to the next venue? Why are they allowed to be going in cars? What's the purpose of that? People need to just think a bit," said Holding.