Jofra Archer Breach Could Have Cost England Millions Of Pounds: ECB Chief Ashley Giles

England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) chief Ashley Giles said that Jofra Archer breaking the code of conduct for a bio-secure environment could have cost them millions of pounds. Jofra Archer, who ran through the West Indies top order in the second innings at Southampton, was barred from playing the second Test for breaching the biosecurity protocol.

A spokesperson from the English board said that Jofra Archer breached the code of conduct while travelling between the Ageas Bowl and Emirates Old Trafford as he stopped on the way to his flat at Brighton. The Barbadian, however, issued an apology after his move but that did not stop him from drawing flak from the cricket board.

Giles feels that his move could have resulted into disaster and the ripple effect of the board could have seen them cost tens of millions of pounds. He also said that Archer is a young man and they do make mistakes but it is important for him to learn from it.

“This could have been a disaster. The ripple effect this could have had through the whole summer could have cost us tens of millions of pounds,” Giles told British media.

“The potential knock-on effect I don’t think he could have understood. He’s a young man, young men make mistakes. He has to learn from them.”

Jofra Archer will have to go a mandatory five day isolation period, during which he will be tested twice. He will be a part of the team again only if both the tests turn out to be negative. During a novel coronavirus pandemic situation the step taken by Jofra Archer has been widely criticised among the cricket fraternity.

Archer played his eighth Test at Southampton. He was picked up ahead of Stuart Broad in the Test match. The Barbadian has picked up 33 wickets with an average of 28 in the longest format of the game.