ARCHER’S PATH TO ENGLAND OPENS UP
England have given themselves the option of adding Jofra archer’s searing pace to their tilts at ashes and World Cup success next summer after their eligibility regulations were relaxed.
The ECB announced yesterday that as of January 1 2019, it will emulate the three-year qualification period applied by the ICC.
The news certainly excited the 23-year- old Sussex fast bowler, who was born in Barbados to an English father. But his tweet — ‘It may or may not happen but I would love to debut in front of my family’, referring to the potential of playing oon England’s tour of the Caribbean in the new year — wwas a jumping of the gun.
The new criteria, rubber stamped at a lord’s board meeting, stipulate an individual must serve a 210- dday-a-year residency over the three-year transition period and archer is not scheduled to reach that number in this 12-month cycle until late March next year.
England Test captain Joe Root said of a bowler able to generate 90mph pace: ‘It is great to see someone excited about qualifying to play for England. What he has potentially got to offer is very exciting. He gives an element of pace, bounce and height and a point of difference in a very strong attack both in our conditions and in different parts of the world.’
Whether that is enough for him to gatecrash the World Cup plans remains to be seen. limited-overs captain Eoin Morgan is fiercely loyal to the squad that has taken England from no-hopers to heavy favourites.
archer last played for West Indies Under 19 in October 2013 but was left out of the World Cup in early 2014 and has not played domestically in the Caribbean since March of that year. He arrived in the UK in 2015 and has been a prolific wicket-taker and run-scorer at county level.
His performances for Sussex saw him sign for Hobart Hurricanes at the Big Bash 12 months ago. He then signed a £800,000 deal with Rajasthan Royals.