Jofra Archer Bio-Secure Breach: Holding Questions ECB Protocol, Atherton Slams Archer's 'Foolishness'

West Indies legend Michael Holding questioned ECB's 'bio-secure' protocols while former England batsman Michael Atherton slammed Jofra Archer's 'foolishness' after the England pacer broke bio-secure protocols resulting in him missing the second Test in Manchester.

Archer, who will now commence five days of isolation and will undergo two COVID-19 tests in this period, apologised for his error.

"I just want to ask a few questions of the ECB and these protocols though,” Holding said on the Sky Sports Cricket broadcast. "I can understand protocols have to be put in place but I would think they should be a little bit more logical.

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"Why aren’t the England team travelling on a bus? If they have already passed their Covid tests, everyone is together, they have six Test matches, they are moving from one venue to the other. Why aren’t they all just in a bus travelling to the next venue? Why are they allowed to be going in cars? What’s the purpose of that? People need to just think a bit."

Atherton, meanwhile, described Archer's actions as 'foolish'.

"It’s very foolish for a number of reasons," said Atherton on the Sky Sports Cricket broadcast. "One, it’s cost him a place in the team. Secondly it’s thrown England’s plans into disarray, a vital Test match that they must win to try and win this series. And thirdly it’s put at risk all the work that ECB have done. These six Test matches, three against West Indies, three against Pakistan, they’ve had to do a tremendous amount of work to get these games on.

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"Although the protocols might seem very severe, they’ve had to put those in place to get government approval for these games to happen. And, as you know, from broadcast purposes, each of these games are worth about £20 million to the ECB, the international summer as a whole about £180 million, that’s money for the game. So they can’t afford the players to break protocols.

"He’s been foolish, he’s apologised profusely, and that will be the end of it,” Atherton said. “He should come back into the side, but he’s been foolish and it’s cost him his place here."