Archer unsure about third Test after racial abuse
London:england’s Jofra Archer says he was racially abused after his breach of coronavirus protocols and is struggling to get into the right frame of mind to play in the third Test against the West Indies.
The 25-year-old fast bowler was omitted from the England team that won the second Test due to an unauthorised trip home after the first Test. He is free to play after two negative coronavirus tests.
Archer said in his Daily Mail column published on Wednesday that he had not “committed a crime”. He said some of the social media criticism he had received had been racist and felt uncertain about taking the field on Friday for the final Test.
“I need to be 100 per cent mentally right so that I can throw myself into my cricket this week,” Archer wrote.
“If I play and don’t bowl 90 miles an hour it’s going to be news. If I don’t bowl 90 miles per hour for long enough it’s going to be news,” he added.
‘ENGLAND TO CONSIDER ROTATING STOKES’
MANCHESTER:ENGLAND will “consider rotating” star match-winning all-rounder Ben Stokes even though his presence makes it a better team, said coach Chris Silverwood ahead of the third Test against the West Indies beginning on Friday.
“We want him out there as much as we can; everyone can see how good he is,” Silverwood said. “But you know what, we’re going to consider rotating him. He’s been at the centre of the last couple of games and we’ve got to make sure he’s okay. But if he is fit and healthy, he’ll play.”
EURO T20 SLAM PUSHED BACK AGAIN
LONDON: The Euro T20 Slam cricket tournament has been postponed for the second year running due to uncertainty caused by the coronavirus pandemic, organisers said.
The competition, involving six city franchises based in Ireland, Scotland and the Netherlands, was originally due to start in 2019 but was postponed shortly before its start date.
T20 stars including Martin Guptill, Eoin Morgan and Shahid Afridi had all been lined up to play.
AB WAS IN LINE FOR T20 WORLD CUP: DE KOCK
NEWDELHI:SOUTH Africa’s captain in the shortest format, Quinton de Kock, has said AB de Villiers could have come out of international retirement for the postponed 2020 T20 World Cup.
“He was definitely in line. If fit, I would have loved to have AB de Villiers,” de Kock said on Star Sports. “I think any team would have loved to have AB de Villiers in their team. While we were pushing for him, now we will have to see when the T20 World Cup is going to happen.”
IPL A SMALL-SCALE WORLD CUP: MAXWELL
MELBOURNE: Australian allrounder Glenn Maxwell considers the IPL to be a small-scale World Cup where overseas players get one “hell of a kick” competing against each other.
“The overseas guys get a hell of a kick playing in it, some of the best players in the world rubbing shoulders, similar to a World Cup, but on a smaller scale. If everything gets ticked off I would love to be available for it,” Maxwell was quoted as saying by Fox Sports.