Jofra Archer Opens Up For The First Time After Hitting Steve Smith With A Bouncer

England pacer Jofra Archer‘s hostile bouncer barrage at Steve Smith on day four at Lord’s during the Ashes second Test gave haunting memories of Phil Hughes to the fans of both camps. The debutant fast bowler opened up for the first time after that incident, which attracted a lot of criticisms.

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Archer struck Smith twice in a lightning spell of fast bowling after lunch on Saturday. It badly bruised the former Aussie skipper’s left forearm before clocking him in the back of the neck with a vicious bouncer that forced him to retire hurt. The full house at Lord’s collectively gasped as Smith hit the turf while Jofra Archer was seen sharing a laugh with teammate Jos Buttler.

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The Barbados-born fast bowler has opened up to BBC’s Test Match special for the first since that incident. Archer said that it was not a pleasant sight as nobody wants to see someone stretchered off the field. He also added everyone skipped a beat during that moment after Phil Hughes’ incident a few years back.

“To see him go down, everyone stopped and everyone’s heart skipped a beat,” Archer told the BBC. “After he got up and he was moving around, you breathe a sigh of relief. Seeing someone go down, you don’t ever want to see anyone getting carried off in a stretcher or you don’t want to see anyone missing a day or another game. Especially what happened a few years ago as well. It’s never a nice sight,” he added.

Meanwhile, Steve Smith passed the concussion test and returned to the crease after the dismissal of Peter Siddle. But after a shaky 15 minutes at the crease, Smith was out lbw to Chris Woakes for 92.  Later on, it was revealed that he will not take any further part in the Test match. Smith’s participation in the third Test also remains doubtful.