Steve Smith's Blow To The Head Reminded Jofra Archer Of The Phillip Hughes Incident

Not only the fans but also Jofra Archer had memories of the tragic death of Phillip Hughes when a bouncer concussed Steve Smith at Lord’s last year. In one of the most entertaining showdowns in any Ashes series, Steve Smith bravely faced a blazing fast Jofra Archer, which resulted in the former’s injury in the second Test in London.

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The moment Smith went down to that deadly bouncer off Archer, the cricketing fraternity had their hearts in the mouth since it reminded them of what went down with Hughes. Backtracking to that incident in 2014, Sean Abbott bowled a short-pitched delivery that hit Phillip Hughes at the neck during a Sheffield Shield encounter that ultimately resulted in his demise.

The first reaction that the Barbados-born pacer had was it struck the helmet, but felt apprehensive when he went down to the ground. Archer claimed that anything that happens even proximate to that incident gives you chills. At the same time, the speedster felt relieved that his counterpart recovered successfully and batted in the last two games.

“My first reaction was that it hit the helmet but a few seconds after he went down, everyone was like ‘Oh no’,”. We had the stuff with Phil a few year ago and, generally anything that hits you in that vicinity is going to be trouble. I’m just glad he came out on the other side of it and batted in two games.” Archer said as quoted by Times of India.

Jofra Archer has his say for the matches behind closed doors:

Meanwhile, due to the current COVID-19 pandemic as the cricketing season around the world has come to a grinding halt. In the wake of this, holding games without letting the public into the stadium has emerged as a viable option when sport resumes. The 25-year old opines that playing without any public noise would take time to get used to. Archer feels that some artificial simulations can be introduced to make things as conventional as possible.

“Playing in silence will take some getting used to, so it might be useful to play some music, some simulations of a crowd, something to create an atmosphere. The best solution, if we do have to play behind closed doors, might have to be cheers and clapping when someone hits four or a wicket falls. These are the little things that will make it as normal as possible even though it won’t be a normal occasion.”  Jofra Archer added.

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