ROOT: JOFRA IS SMILES BETTER
BY GIDEON BROOKS JOE ROOT says pace ace Jofra Archer is back with a smile on his face, bowling “at the speed of light” and ready to fire England to a Test series win against West Indies.
But the England captain insisted racist abuse at Archer following his biosecure bubble aberration between the first and second Tests has been nothing short of ‘disgusting’.
Skipper Root and the rest of the England squad accepted Archer’s apology for breaching the rules.
And they have offered him support since he was the target of vile racist abuse on social media.
Root said: “It was disgusting to see some of the stuff he’s had to put up with over the last week, it really was. As a squad we’ll try to be around him and make sure he knows we’re all there for him.
“But no one should have to deal with that whether you’re a professional sportsman or kid at school.
“No one should go through anything like that and it’s deeply disappointing.
“There’s no other word for it than disgusting.” Root is sweating on the fitness of second Test hero Ben Stokes who will have a late test on a quad muscle strain this morning to see if he will be able to bowl in the third and deciding Test.
But the all-rounder will play as a batter and Root added: “It’s just a question of how much of an impact he can have with the ball.”
However, Root believes he has an ace up his sleeve in Archer for the Old Trafford clash after two days of impressive speed in the nets.
He said: “Jofra will be ready for it. He’s had two good days of training and he’s got a smile on his face,.
“He has bowled at the speed of light over the last couple of days in spicy nets so it wasn’t much fun for our batters.”