Pacer Jofra Archer lashed out at Michael Vaughan for questioning his commitment to Test cricket. Archer said that the former England player does not know him personally and is unaware of where his motivation lies.
Since his debut in the England national team, Archer has always found himself under constant and unwarranted scrutiny from the media and various pundits. He recently came under criticism for picking up only four wickets in two Tests against India.
Writing for the Daily Mail, Archer expressed his annoyance with the fact that the criticism comes up as soon as any player isn’t his ‘110 per cent’.
“Comments like ‘he’s not committed’ or ‘he’s not good enough’ appear as soon as you are not 110 per cent. I find it quite annoying how people read into stuff and form their own opinions. I saw an article from Michael Vaughan in which he said, ‘if Jofra doesn’t love Test cricket, England needs to find out why.’ We’ve never had a conversation about cricket, so I found it a bit odd. He doesn’t know what makes me tick. He doesn’t know what’s driving me,” wrote Jofra Archer.
He also clearly stated that his attitude towards playing for England, including in the longest format hasn’t changed.
“Let me be clear about something: I’ve never changed my attitude towards playing for England. I’ve always wanted to play all three formats. That hasn’t changed, and never will as far as I’m concerned. I always dreamed of playing Test cricket and don’t feel I’ve had a bad game so far — yet unless I am taking four or five wickets in an innings, I am placed under scrutiny and some people start trying to decipher what’s going on,” added Jofra Archer.
The 25-year-old speedster further added that his career is still at a growing stage as he takes inspiration from the likes of James Anderson and Stuart Broad.
“Everyone must start somewhere, and I am still relatively new to Test cricket. I am making my way, much the same as the two great bowlers in this England set-up, James Anderson and Stuart Broad once did. And I am happy with a bowling average of 31 so far because I can get better,” explained Jofra Archer.
Archer suffered an elbow injury in the recently concluded Test series against India. The pacer explained that the injury was different from the one he sustained last year and also confirmed that he is fit to play the first T20I on Friday, March 12 against India.
