SKIPPER TO THROW JOFRA STRAIGHT IN

Root insists pace ace is ready with a smile on his face for big decider

Joe Root backed Jofra Archer yesterday to put behind him the ‘disgusting’ abuse he has received since his unscheduled trip home from the england bubble and is ready to throw him into today’s Wisden trophy decider against West Indies.

the captain is confident Archer is in the right frame of mind for today’s third test after two days of hard practice at emirates old trafford that have ‘put a smile back on his face’ after the most difficult week of Archer’s fledgling international career. Archer revealed in an explosive

Sportsmail interview on Wednesday that he had been racially abused on social media and believed he had been treated ‘like a criminal’ after breaching biosecure regulations en route from Southampton to Manchester after the first test.

But Archer, 25, who suffered five days in isolation for the breach and missed england’s second test victory, was named in a 14-man squad for the game which starts today and that gives Root all possible bowling options.

the captain looks certain to pick him ahead of the unlucky Chris Woakes and Mark Wood.

‘Jofra is ready,’ said Root. ‘He’s had two good days of training and he’s got a smile on his face. He’s bowled the speed of light over the last couple of days in some spicy nets, so it wasn’t much fun for our batters. I’ve had good conversations with Jofra over the past few days.

‘It is really important he’s mentally in a good enough place to play the game.’

on the social media attacks, Root added: ‘It was disgusting to see some of the stuff he’s had to put up with over the last week and as a squad we’ll be around him and make sure he knows we’re all there for him.

‘No one should have to deal with that, whether you’re a professional sportsman or a kid growing up at school. It’s deeply disappointing and there’s no other word for it.’

Yesterday, Root recalled the curious affair of his brush with David Warner in a Birmingham bar while wearing a fake beard to offer Archer encouragement that he can overcome the worst week of his career. Seven years ago, a young, cheeky Root was on the receiving end of a late-night punch from Australia’s Mr Angry that led to unwelcome headlines and a rare bump in his otherwise smooth journey to the top of the game. Now the england captain wants Archer (below) to forget his own Warner moment in the form of a ‘suspension’ for breaching biosecure regulations. ‘I see a guy who has had to deal with a lot in a short space of time,’ said Root. ‘You look at other guys who have been through similar things. I had to go through the David Warner incident and Ben Stokes has been through a hell of a lot off the field. those experiences mean you can sympathise. there will be anger, frustration and disappointment for Jofra.

‘But he needs to know he doesn’t have to deal with it on his own. He’s got good people around him who want him to be happy and to enjoy his cricket and life away from the sport. the more he knows that and the more we can help, the better.’

Archer appears to feel hard done by over the way england treated him after the breach of regulations that could have had massive ramifications for the game. And he displayed a sensitivity to cricketing criticism that goes with the turf at this level.

But the message from the england camp is that they are very much behind Archer and they do seem prepared to leave out Woakes who starred in the serieslevelling second test, to accommodate him today.

‘one of the hardest things about coming into international cricket is the extra scrutiny,’ said Root. ‘In county cricket you just have feedback or a highlights package but then you go into a world where a load of ex-pros start picking apart your technique or questioning your attitude and effort. It can be a difficult thing to manage.’

there is no question the harshest comments and the disgusting abuse that Root talked of yesterday come from social media. Sir Alastair Cook famously eschewed the volatile world of twitter because, as he so aptly put it, ‘why would you invite someone into your front room to shout at you?’

Maybe Archer should do the same, as he suggested he might. ‘Jofra has grown up with social media and it would be a big change and a bit unfair to ask him to put it to one side,’ said Root.

‘He’ll have to learn to deal with the scrutiny and understand it won’t go away but there have been times when criticism has motivated him to put in good performances. So the challenge is to use it in a positive way and sift out the stuff he doesn’t want to see.’

england’s biggest headache today could come from the complications that will arise if their man of the moment Stokes is not fit to bowl because of a thigh injury. Stokes is now one of the best batsmen in the world, as he showed so spectacularly in the second test, so he can comfortably demand a place on that alone.

But england’s balance goes awry when he cannot bowl.

West Indies captain Jason Holder, who has backed his old friend Archer, must decide whether he can risk the same attack for a third successive test in a hugely important game.

one change may be the introduction of the giant offspinner Rahkeem Cornwall — all 6ft 5in and 22 stone of him — with Holder saying: ‘He would be the best spinner on show in this series.’

on behalf of larger men everywhere, it would be wonderful to see Cornwall included.

But for england the priority is seeing a happy and firing Archer again.