Former England captain Nasser Hussain feels there is a chance fast bowler Jofra Archer won’t be in the right frame of mind going into the third and final #raisethebat Test against West Indies considering what all has been said about him recently.
Archer was subject to heavy criticism after he broke the bio-secure bubble following the conclusion of Southampton Test and was subsequently axed from the squad for Manchester Test.
Hussain stated it will difficult for him to overcome things that has been said about Archer in the last few days while he was in self-isolation in Manchester.
“It’s made even more difficult by the fact that he had to go into isolation for five days, when he’s had time to read all the stuff that’s been written about him, and mull everything over,” Hussain wrote in his column for Daily Mail.
“It can’t be healthy, and I’m sure the ECB understand they have a duty of care towards him now. Someone has to put an arm around his shoulder, and make sure he’s OK, and it was good to hear that Joe Root and Ben Stokes have done just that.
“As things stand, I don’t see how he can play in Friday’s third Test, when England will need him to be on top of his game.
“If he turns around and says, ‘Look, I had a meltdown, I’ve got it out of my system, and I’m ready to play,’ that’s different. But it’s clear that he feels extremely hurt by the reaction to what he did,” he added.
Earlier, Archer had revealed facing racist abuse on social media in the aftermath of the mistake he committed. Following the second negative COVID-19 test, Archer was allowed to rejoin the squad for the final Test of the series, which remains poised at 1-1.
“Over the last few days, I have unfollowed and muted a lot of social media profiles to get away from it. I won’t be going back on it. I find it unnecessary noise. Take two wickets and everyone is back on the bandwagon again. It’s a fickle, fickle world we live in,” Archer wrote in his column for the Daily Mail.