Cricket: Blow as bubble life turns Jofra Archer off BBL

Cricket Australia’s hopes that attracting international players to BBL will ease broadcast complaints hit by Jofra’s comments

Jofra Archer is unikely to return to play for the Hobart Hurricanes in the BBL

Hopes international stars would embrace the Big Bash League and alleviate the complaints of broadcasters have suffered a setback, with Jofra Archer saying he does not think he will play for Hobart this year.

“I’ll be honest with you. I’m not sure how many more bubbles I’ve got left in me for the rest of the year,” Archer said when asked about the strains of the England summer.

“I haven‘t seen my family really since February and it’s September now. The IPL is going to take up most of October. In November we go to South Africa; well, hopefully we go to South Africa. That only leaves me with a few weeks in December for the rest of the year.

“I love my Hobart (BBL) family but I think I need to spend some time with my real family as well. When the year turns, we‘re going to be back in a bubble in the UAE and India or somewhere. Family time is really important especially when you’re in the bubble and you can’t see them physically. So any time I get I try to spend with them.”

Cricket Australia had attempted to soothe the anger of broadcasters over the lack of talent available for this year’s tournament by throwing money and resources at attracting overseas stars.

England had shaped as fertile ground for franchises this summer thanks to a break in its international schedule and there is still confidence many will be lured to Australia.

The BBL’s length and relatively small salary cap traditionally makes it difficult to attract overseas stars but the tournament has done well as a vehicle for emerging players.

Archer’s refusal is significant because he was a player who built his international profile playing with Hobart in the 2017-18 and 2018-19 summers before he made his debut for England.

Nepalese leg spinner Sandeep Lamichhane followed a similar course to Archer, but has only been available to the BBL for part of the past two seasons as he had a more lucrative deal with the Bangladesh Premier League.

Cricket Australia had focused in recent summers on part-time overseas participants after it became obvious the tournament was too long and money not attractive enough compared to other tournaments.

Last summer the Brisbane Heat lured AB de Villiers over for part of the tournament, but there is talk he will not come back this year.

Archer has acknowledged in the past how the tournament is a good way to attract attention ahead of the IPL auction and there were nine English players involved in the last tournament, including Alex Hales, Chris Jordan, Tom Curran, Tom Bannon and James Vince.

Archer said the mental toll of spending the England summer in a bubble was significant and Australian cricket will be bracing itself for similar strains in the coming summer.

“I‘ll tell you, it has been mentally challenging,“ Archer said. ”We’ve been in here for 16 weeks or something like that. I think it is going to be more rare going home or being normal again. Here has become the new norm. We’ll just have to adjust again when we get some time off.

“The time I spend bowling with the white ball is a lot less than in Test cricket. You can‘t run in the whole day. It is actually impossible to run in the whole day bowling at 90mph. If you can show me someone who does it then fair play. I’ve not seen any bowler who bowls 90mph do it for a whole day.

“It might be different environments as well. A change of scenery or a change of personnel. You do sometimes feel like you hit a wall. Sometimes you just need to relax or just need to switch your mind off for a few days.

“I honestly don‘t know what it is but if you’re in a good frame of mind I feel you’ll probably bowl a bit faster. On Sunday, I didn’t feel as though I was bowling that fast. At times I felt I’ve bowled faster. For me as long as I feel good, I don’t care what speed I’m bowling at.”

Australian players face a long, difficult summer and for many of them what started in England last month and will not end until well into next year.

Those leaving the current lockdown for the IPL face months in constrained circumstances in the UAE. They face quarantine on return and have no time before being thrown into a hectic summer with India and Afghanistan set to tour.

The eight from the squad who return from the UK on Friday face two weeks lockdown in Adelaide, but will be able to train in small groups.

Three-format players face a long, long time away from family and normality.

Even a normal cricket calendar takes a mental toll. Last year Glenn Maxwell withdrew from the Australian team out of fatigue and an increasing number take mental health breaks.

West Indies captain Jason Holder was the first to signal warnings, complaining at the end of the West Indies’ three-Test tour of the UK that living in a hotel attached to a cricket ground with no chance to get away had been difficult.

“It’s been challenging,” Holder siad. “I think mentally some of the guys are a bit worn out as well.

“We’ve been here four weeks prior to the first Test. We had a change in environment which we really enjoyed at Southampton, but then to come back here to Manchester to see the same people, same place, same rooms was a bit difficult.

“It could be this way for a little while, so we’ve just got to find ways to make it work. Hopefully, things can ease up throughout the world and probably guys can get out the hotel a little bit more, but more or less, it has been mentally challenging for sure.”

“We’ve been kept indoors for the last two months, the guys haven’t seen a bit of real life for a bit. Outside of that it’s tough to constantly get up, open your curtains and see the cricket ground. So it has been challenging mentally and a lot of our guys have felt it and coming closer to (leaving for) home, it probably gets a little more difficult, but more or less I think the guys have done outstandingly well in terms of keeping their focus.

“The last Test match, obviously, we were probably outplayed but I think in the Test series we’ve had a lot of positives, whether it be wickets, runs and generally as a group we’ve shown signs of improvement as well.”