MANCHESTER, July 18: England fast bowler Jofra Archer has been fined and handed an official written warning after breaching the team�s bio-secure protocols for their ongoing three-match Test series against the West Indies, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) said on Saturday.
The ECB said that the decision was made at a meeting that was chaired by ECB�s Director of Cricket Ashley Giles and included a representative from the Professional Cricketers� Association and Archer�s agent.
�Following a disciplinary hearing held on Friday evening, England cricketer Jofra Archer has been fined an undisclosed amount and received an official written warning after admitting to breaching the team�s bio-secure protocols on Monday 13 July when he made an unauthorised visit to his home in Hove,� said the ECB in its statement.
Archer was withdrawn from England�s squad for the second Test to be isolated for five days at Old Trafford. �He will undergo two COVID-19 tests in this period, which have to test negative before his self-isolation period is lifted. He is due to rejoin the rest of the squad on Tuesday 21 July,� said the ECB.
All-rounder Ben Stokes had earlier called for the team management to support Archer.
�For us as players, and as the England cricket group, this is a time where our way of operation really needs to come through,� Stokes, who scored 176 to guide England to 469 for 9 declared in their first innings of the ongoing second Test, was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.
�We really need to be there to support Jofra right now, because obviously he�s a big talking point, and he is by himself because of everything else going on at the moment.
�But it�s about making sure that he doesn�t feel like he�s by himself,� he added. �The worst thing that we can do right now, as a team, is to just leave him and say �see you in five, six days� time.
�Times like these for people are very, very tough. You can feel like you are all by yourself, but I don�t think anybody is going to allow that to happen. Jofra is a massive part of this group, as everybody is. If it was anybody else like Jofra, it would be exactly the same way of handling as a team,� he added. � IANS
