England cricketer Jofra Archer has hit back at the level of criticism he received on social media following his breach of pandemic protocols earlier this month.

The 25-year-old was removed from the squad on the eve of the second Test after it emerged he had breached his side’s bio-secure bubble with an unauthorised trip to his flat in Hove.

He was placed in five days of isolation at Emirates Old Trafford’s on-site hotel, allowed out only for carefully controlled solitary fitness work, and later fined around £15,000 at a disciplinary hearing for his transgression.

Having come into contact with an unnamed individual during his detour,  Archer then needed to get two negative Covid-19 tests before being allowed to return to the playing group.

He added that the mixed treatment of Manchester United and England footballer Marcus Rashford, along with the varying reactions between his first and second innings in Southampton, had shown him how “fickle” professional sport can be.

While he believes the West Indies series is “there for the taking”, more than anything, Archer said he just wants to be able to feel like his old self.

“Now I have done my time, it’s over, and I am trying to move on,” he wrote.

“I know what I did was an error of judgement and I have suffered the consequences of that. I haven’t committed a crime and I want to start feeling myself again.”