22 July 2020

England bowler Jofra Archer racially abused following COVID-19 breach

England fast-bowler Jofra Archer has revealed he received racist abuse after breaching bio-secure protocols before the team’s second Test against the West Indies.

The 25 year-old broke the strict rules, which stated players must drive straight from Southampton to Manchester, by visiting his home in Brighton.

Archer will return to the England team for the third test against the West Indies (PA)

And while Archer holds his hands up and insists he did wrong, he has also spoken out about the unfair abuse he has been subjected to.

Speaking to the Daily Mail, he said: "Some of the abuse I have taken over the past few days on Instagram has been racist and I have decided enough is enough. I will not allow anything to pass, so I have forwarded my complaints to the ECB and that will go through the correct process.

"Yes, I made a mistake in not driving to Old Trafford directly from Southampton between matches. But people make mistakes. I know what I did was an error of judgement and I have suffered the consequences of that.

"I accept I put the other guys at risk. I did not follow the advice and therefore apologised to my team-mates, to the West Indies team and to everyone involved in the series.

"But I haven’t committed a crime and I want to start feeling myself again. This whole week has been extremely tough and to spend five days in isolation has given me a lot of thinking time.

"To be stuck in a hotel room in Manchester was hard. I found I was struggling for motivation in the circumstances when it came to returning to bowling in the nets.

"Now I need to be 100 per cent mentally right so that I can throw myself into my cricket this week."

Archer will resume England duty for the third and final Test against the West Indies which begins on Friday.

Joe Root’s side were beaten by four wickets in the first Test but sent the series to a decider after winning by 113 runs on Monday.

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