AND WE NEED A FAIRER SLICE’
that without the West Indies and Pakistan they would have been in considerable financial difficulty.
“I also think journalists and fans are remembering there is great cricket history and rivalry between the West Indies and England, and Pakistan and England.
“I personally think that
JOFRA ARCHER will be free to charge in at the Windies batsmen in the final Test after being given the gentlest of raps on the knuckles by England’s top brass.
Despite claiming that Archer’s actions in breaking the bio-secure protocols to visit his home in Brighton could have been a “disaster” costing the game “tens of millions” of pounds, England supremo Ashley Giles has taken a supportive approach.
Far from punishing the star pace bowler with hefty sanctions, Giles has fined him an ‘undisclosed amount’, believed to be £15,000, the same as a match fee.
Archer also received a formal written warning about his actions – which were taking an unauthorised visit to his home and a suspected meeting up with a female friend, which broke the bio-secure protocols.
There was a short virtual hearing on Friday night chaired by Giles (right) as the managing director of men’s cricket, with Archer, his agent Tom Harwood, a representative of the Professional Cricketers’ Association, and John Carr, the director of cricket operations at
England playing the two other big teams so often and for such long series does get a bit monotonous, and in recent times the results have also been quite predictable.
“It’s more exciting if everyone plays each other in a more equitable league system.
“There has never been more money in the game of the ECB, after which the matter was drawn to a swift close.
Giles had already explained that this was the first issue he’d had with Archer since he became an England player last year and this impeccable record was taken into account when deciding on any punishment.
Archer, 25, is understood to have apologised to Giles once more for the error of judgement that could have put the entire summer’s international programme in jeopardy.
But the fact the game and the series have been able to continue without disruption has worked in his favour, enabling Giles to treat the incident as a low-risk mistake.
Due to the need to be placed into isolation, Archer has missed the current game at Old Trafford and with it the match fee he should have received.
The extra fine and time spent watching on from his hotel balcony will sting for a young man who should be described as naive rather than difficult.
Archer, though, will perhaps now appreciate just how much responsibility comes with being an England cricketer and how easily it can be taken away.
He might – like fellow high-profile team-mate Ben Stokes, who went through a tough period of his own – use this as a ‘lightbulb moment’.
Stokes spoke from experience cricket but unfortunately it’s not being shared equally.”
Grave points out that the ECB will have made more from hosting the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy and the 2019 Cricket World Cup than the visiting Test sides this summer will receive in the entire eight-year cycle (201623) from world cricket’s when he said: “We understand that it can be a very vulnerable and lonely place for him right now.
“Making sure that Jof is as happy as he possibly can be is the main thing. We need to do everything we can to keep him going.”
And that is exactly what they have been doing by rallying around Archer, playing the Call Of Duty video game online with him and sharing WhatsApp messages.
For Giles, the issue confirmed just how difficult this summer was always going to be, asking players to cut themselves off from family and friends, even though they are playing at home.
It is why the ECB are exploring a way to allow players to leave the bubble at the end of this series against the Windies and before they regroup for the Pakistan series in August.
There are at least eight days between the two, which will be enough for a visit home and then to take the two negative Covid tests required before re-entering the bubble.
Archer had the first of his two such tests yesterday before a second tomorrow and as long as both are negative he will be free to rejoin the squad on Tuesday and take a full part in training.
■■NO PLAY YESTERDAY. Drizzle in the morning developed into persistent rain at Old Trafford and, with no hope of action resuming, the day was abandoned at 4pm. governing body. He added: “Most of the nations don’t expect a fair share – just a share to survive.
“The fact that international cricket has come back with Test cricket is brilliant – the limelight has been somewhat dominated by T20 cricket and ODI cricket in recent times.”