Holding lambast Archer
Image : Collected
|| CF Correspondent ||
West Indies fast bowling legend Michael Holding slammed England pacer Jofra Archer for breaking the bio-secure bubble ahead of the second Test at Old Trafford.
Archer, who has been omitted from the squad for breaching the bio-secure bubble, will be absent from the team in the crucial Manchester Test against West Indies.
Holding lashes out Archer, saying sacrifices should be made for the larger good.
"I have no sympathy at all. I don't understand why people can't just do what is required. Talking about sacrifices -- Nelson Mandela spent 27 years in a little cell and he did nothing wrong -- that is a sacrifice," Holding told media.
It was reported that Archer drove his way to his home in Sussex while other players made their way to Manchester from Southampton. Holding questioned the protocols placed by the England and Wales Cricket Board [ECB].
"I just want to ask a few questions of the ECB and these protocols, though. I understand that protocols should be put in place but they should be a little bit more logical," Holding said.
"Why aren't the England team travelling on a bus? If they have already passed the Covid test and everyone is together, they have six matches and are moving from one venue to another, why aren't they just all on a bus?
"Why are they allowed to travel by car? People need to just think a bit," he added.
Archer's action also brought misery and put everyone's safety in jeopardy, thinks former England cricketer Michael Atherton.
"It's very foolish for a number of reasons. One, it cost him a place in the team. Secondly, it's thrown England's plans into disarray, a vital Test match that they must win to try and win this series," Atherton told said.
"And thirdly it's put at risk all the work that ECB have done. These six Test matches, three against West Indies, three against Pakistan, they've had to do a tremendous amount of work to get these games on," he added.
ECB in an official statement made it clear that Jofra Archer has to be in a fice day of isolation and will also undergo two COVID-19 test in this period.
