Pacer Jofra Archer was upset over Michael Vaughan questioning his commitment to Test cricket. He stated without hesitation that the former England captain doesn't know him personally and is unaware of where his motivations lie.
Since his introduction into the England national team, Jofra Archer found himself under constant and unfair scrutiny from the media and various cricket professionals. He was recently criticized for picking up only four wickets in two Tests against India.
According to a Daily Mail interview, Jofra Archer expressed his annoyance with the fact that the player gets criticized as soon as he isn't at his "110 percent". Comments like 'he's not committed' or 'he's not good enough' soon start to surface. He feels annoyed at people who try to read in-between lines and form their own opinions. This reaction came from the player when he saw an article from Michael Vaughan. He had said, 'if Jofra doesn't love Test cricket, England needs to find out why.' As Archer mentioned they never had a conversation about cricket, so he 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 stated that his attitude towards playing for England, including in the longest format, is consistent. "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 feels his career is still at an early stage and takes inspiration from 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.
Jofra Archer suffered an elbow injury in the recent Test series against India. The pace confirmed that he is fit to play the first T20I on Friday, March 12, 2021. "There have been suggestions that this is a recurrence of my stress fracture last year, but I can confirm that while the injury may have been caused by the same thing - bowling fast - the pain is in a different area of the elbow. I've come through all the training sessions this week, and I feel fit and ready to go for the opening match of the T20 series on Friday," wrote Jofra Archer.
In seven T20Is, Jofra Archer picked up 7 wickets at an average of 30.86. After this event, we can say many eyes will be on Archer's game in the upcoming T20I series against England.