Important for England cricketers to escape the bubble

England completed a 2-0 series win over Sri Lanka without the Sussex paceman, as well as all-rounder Ben Stokes, after deciding to give them time off at the start of a packed year.

England have already excused Mark Wood, Jonny Bairstow and Sam Curran from the first two Tests in Chennai.

“Anyone criticising us has never been in the bubble,” said Archer. “We have been in a bubble for months, we have been in here for almost a year now.

“I think we have to go in and out because humans are social people. It starts to get hard if you are not having a great game or not feeling good with your cricket because there is nowhere to go.

“I think the ECB has made it really great to give people like myself six weeks away.”

Archer has praised Joe Root ahead of his 100th Test and is tipping the captain to eventually overtake Alastair Cook’s England record of 161 caps.

“He’s really reassuring, not just for me, but for every person in the team,” said Archer.

“He’s a great man-manager. A great person as well. It’s no surprise that he’s played 100 Tests. I think he’s probably got 70 left in him as well. He’s definitely not near the end.”

Channel 4 says it is still in discussions over purchasing the rights for England’s upcoming Test series after a tweet appeared to indicate an agreement had been reached.

A post on the @Channel4Cricket account published yesterday morning said: “It’s time for” followed by a musical note emoji and a GIF of Lou Bega’s song ‘Mambo No 5’, which was famously used in the channel’s cricket coverage during the 2005 Ashes series.

However, it is understood it is not an official Channel 4 account and it was later deleted.

A Channel 4 spokesman said: “We are still in discussions (over the India v England series) but nothing has been confirmed.”

Star Sports are the rights holders in India and are understood to have been holding out for a bumper deal that has not yet found a buyer.

The idea of the series being made available via Star’s subscription app ‘Hotstar’ or as part of the Disney+ streaming service, once considered potential routes to market, are not thought to be viable options.

The domestic feed with local commentary is available but broadcasters can also choose to take the pictures only, adding their own punditry remotely.

This is the approach taken by Sky for the recent series against Sri Lanka, an experience which means it would be in a position to facilitate coverage at relatively short notice.

BT Sport won the rights for the last Ashes series Down Under and have no issues around clearing schedules, should they prove successful. For now, England followers know they will be able to listen to the action on radio via talkSPORT.

Captain Dane Vilas is set for a fifth successive season with Lancashire after signing as an overseas player for 2021.

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