Joe Root shows England can grow by understanding Jofra Archer and being online

England are tied at 1-1 heading into the final Test of the series against West Indies

Joe Root can and can’t speak from experience on what Jofra Archer has endured over the last eight days. That he knows both is vital, not just for his leadership and the preservation of a world-beating talent, but for a broader understanding of Archer as a person.

Back in 2013, Root noticed how relentless the cycle of reaction, counter-reaction, analysis and reaction to the analysis was following an incident in a Birmingham Walkabout when he had an altercation with David Warner. To almost all who were present, it was something and nothing at the same time. But amid Warner’s expulsion midway through the summer to an A tour in Zimbabwe, it followed Root.

Bristol, 2017 and the travails of Ben Stokes and Alex Hales were much more serious, of course. But they fit a similar bracket. Events that dominate the discourse and give cricket the mainstream attention it craves, just not in the way it wants.

Similarly, Archer found himself on the wrong end of rightful criticism of his decision to stop off at his flat while driving from the Ageas Bowl to Emirates Old Trafford. Five days were spent in isolation and seeing messages stream through of his mistake. Constantly.

Root’s tactic has always been to avoid. He has social media accounts, but they are very much marketing tools. It’s why, believe it or not, he has not actually read Archer’s column in which the fast bowler sheds light on his anxieties and the racist abuse he has been sent. Then again, why would he when he can get a more authentic, unedited, un-ECB-ed take from the man himself.

Jofra Archer has left isolation after passing two coronavirus tests with negative results (Getty)

“I’ve heard about it and spoken to Jof and I sort of see a guy who has had to deal with a lot in a short space of time,” said Root.

“You look at other guys who have been through similar things. I had to go through the David Warner incident, Ben has obviously been through a hell of a lot off the field and those experiences mean you can sympathise.” And then, the kicker: “Obviously you can’t understand all of it.”

Root probably will never understand the specific elements that Archer has been through this week. Even if he is well aware of the contents of what populated the secondary inbox of the 25-year old’s Instagram account. Messages Root describes as “really disgusting, racial abuse”.

But arguably Root’s most important message emanated from suggestions Archer should curb his social media presence. As former England captain Michael Vaughan put it in his column for the Telegraph: “If he is going to spend his life on social media then sometimes it will not be pretty.”

“Jofa has grown up with social media and it would be a big change to ask him to put it to one side,” said Root, when asked specifically about how Archer could be free from the internet's angst relating to his performances, notably during the first Test when he exchanged heated words with Tino Best.

“A bit unfair. He’ll have to learn to deal with it and know it won’t go away but there are times in the past it has motivated him to put in good performances, so the challenge is to use it in a positive way and sift out the stuff he doesn’t want to see it.

Joe Root wants to help Jofra Archer (Getty)

“Ultimately he just might need a better way of dealing with social media cricket-wise. It’s difficult when it’s been a big part of your life.”

It is easy to think of social media as an add-on. A gimmick in life that you can pick up and discard when you’re not feeling it, like 2009’s fedora or 2014’s snapback. If that is your default, embrace that privilege. One that, given how integral social media has been at sharing vital information around growing the Black Lives Matter movement, disseminating information around the Arab Spring, and the phenomenon of Black Twitter and its ability to embolden black men and women, could comfortably tally as ignorance.

But, as Root says, Archer grew online. It’s there in the “Jofradamus” patter – tweets from the past that stretch back almost a decade, almost exclusively of Archer commenting cricket that can be effectively recycled for the present. It’s there in the way he and other England players share memes constantly over WhatsApp.

Archer is back in the England squad (Getty)

It’s there in the numbers, too. Archer will have 300,000 on Instagram next month and the same amount in Twitter followers by the end of the year. He has just under 4,000 subscribers on Twitch and is approaching 18,000 on YouTube. Representations of himself as much as the 33 Test wickets and one World Cup winner’s medal.

As such, “stay off social media” wrangles more than it would older generations, even someone like Zak Crawley, one of surely just a handful of 22-year old’s not on Twitter. Telling Archer to stay off social media is a bit like telling him to stay off the streets of his hometown.

It is also true that Archer does not take criticism well. Whether a comment on his pace in press conferences or more pointed barbs in his mentions. That, from a cricket point of view, is something that absolutely should be targeted by opponents and there is no doubt it will form a part of Australia's strategy if he tours there with England at the end of 2021. Even last summer, Matthew Wade gave it a go to some success.

“Obviously they’ll be trying to find anything on the group,” admitted Root when throwing forward to the next Ashes. “As we found out last time, and what seems like a small irrelevant incident can be made into a headbutt or worse. We’re very aware it’s a big challenge of touring Australia but we have that in the bank now and learn from that. We have a period of time before we go to ready the players in every way possible, how they perform on the field and the demands of touring.”

Developing thicker skin will be a must, but the most effective insulation is performance. Indeed, that will remedy many of these woes. Yet it’s also worth remembering that while the more pointed abuse Archer gets for being young, black and famous would still exist if he was old, black and unknown, success puts you in the sights of more who wish you ill.

What Archer must open himself up to is that his captain, vice-captain Ben Stokes and team understand his challenges, and they do not want him to deal with any of this on his own. “The more he knows that and the more we can help, the better,” said Root.

Archer’s troubles can be boiled down to being online and alone. His teammates only want to curb the latter.