England’s fast bowler Jofra Archer admitted moving on from the racism incident that showed last week’s Mount Maunganui Test’s final moments. Terming the incident “a real shame, “the 24-year-old said he looked forward to Hamilton’s second Test to save the series for England.
“I’m over it. I’ve left what happened at the ground and I’ve moved on,” Archer wrote in his column for the Daily Mail.
The incident in question, already reprimanded by the two boards and New Zeal and captain Kane Williamson, took place after Archer was dismissed on the final day of the opening Test with New Zealand closing on victory. He was at the receiving end of a racist slur from a fan when Archer headed back to the dressing room. New Zealand Cricket has since said that once the perpetrator has been identified, a life ban and police proceedings await. Archer, however, expressed surprise that other spectators in the stand did not pull up the guilty spectator.
“I don’t want to go into the details of what was said but I know what I heard,” Archer wrote. “I thought members of the crowd in the surroundings of the guy might have pulled him up because I could hear him from the pitch as I was walking off.
“I guess they did not. But I know I wasn’t hearing the stuff. I told the security guard what had happened and that’s it. Now my only goal is to make sure we finish this series on a high because we were all disappointed with the result during the first Test. But I found the incident like a real shame. When you come to another country, you half expect fans to go to your cricket. If someone wants to shout at me and tell me I am bowling badly, that’s fine. I may not agree but it is fine. It is part of the experience of being a touring cricketer.
“To hear racism, though – that’s another matter. There is no time or place for it to any walk of life, let alone cricket. It is just not called for.”
On Friday (November 29) the second and last Test of England’s two-match assignment is launched in Hamilton.
