Jofra Archer slams Michael Vaughan for questioning his commitment

England star Jofra Archer has slammed Michael Vaughan after the latter questioned his commitment to Test cricket. Archer’s commitment in the longest format of the game is being questioned ever since his form dipped towards the end of 2019. Since then, the critics have constantly targeted him, sometime for his pace and sometime for his commitment.

Archer is facing criticism once again for his indifferent display in the recently-concluded Test series against India. The right-arm pacer picked up three wickets in the first Test and played an important role in England’s 227-run win before missing the next two games due to an elbow injury. In the fourth Test, he had a poor outing and managed just one wicket as India thrashed the visitors by an innings and 25 runs.

Following his poor displays in Tests once again, several critics including Vaughan have once again raised questions at his commitment. Unsurprisingly, the criticism has not gone down well with the England star as he lashed out at Vaughan and other critics. Writing for the Daily Mail, Archer expressed his annoyance with the fact that the criticism surfaces as soon as any player isn’t at his “110 percent”.

“Comments like ‘he’s not committed’ or ‘he’s not good enough’ appear as soon as you are not 110 percent. 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.

I’ve never changed my attitude towards playing for England: Jofra Archer

Writing further, Jofra Archer insisted that his attitude towards playing for England, including in the longest format, is unchanged. He also reiterated his desire of playing in all the three formats for England. Archer was also quick to remind the critics that he is still new to Test cricket and expressed his satisfaction over his performance in Tests so far.

“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.

“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,” he added.