Jofra Archer Responds To Kemar Roach's 'No Friendship With Archer' Comments

Ahead of the much-awaited Test series between England and West Indies, Jofra Archer has become the main point of discussion thanks to his Caribbean roots. The England star was born in Barbados before representing West Indies Under-19s before opting to play for England.

He represented England for the first time last year and made an instant impression by helping the team win its first-ever World Cup. Jofra Archer was the highest wicket-taker for England in the tournament and had also bowled the famous super over in the final.

But despite Jofra Archer’s Caribbean roots, West Indies pacer Kemar Roach recently said that there would be no friendship between West Indies players and the England star. And it looks like Archer is not at all impressed with the way the media presented Roach’s comments.

Writing in his column for the Daily Mail, Archer said that any suggestions that him and the West Indies players won’t be friends due to the upcoming series is upsetting.

“There might be a focus on me playing against West Indies given my upbringing in Barbados but I promise you that this series will not feel any different to me from any other. It’s just cricket. As was the World Cup match against them at the Ageas Bowl last year,” Jofra Archer wrote in his column for the Daily Mail.

“And it actually upset me to see headlines, following a Kemar Roach interview, suggesting I and the West Indies players will not be friends.

“Let’s not get this out of proportion. There will be rivalry there but when Kemar said there will be ‘no friendships’ it sounds a lot worse than it actually is,” he added.

Archer went on to add that the phrase Roach used was blown out of proportion but did concede that any friendships will be set aside when on the field.

“Obviously, we all grew up in the Caribbean and it’s customary for us to say ‘we will be friends at the end of the game’. That’s exactly what he meant.

“It’s not as though he is going to walk past me or be rude, it’s just that when we are on the field we will play hard cricket.

“Chemar Holder plays Xbox with me online all the time but it’s not like any of us are going to be buddy, buddy in the middle. We might make a small joke every now and again but it’s not going to be overly friendly because everyone’s got a job to do.

“I will see them when the game is over but once we have got our whites on for our countries it’s a whole different ball game,” he said.

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