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Root insists his 90mph men Archer and Wood can silence the critics.. just like legends Broad and Anderson

JOE ROOT expects 90mph men Jofra Archer and Mark Wood to follow Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad and prove their doubters wrong.

Archer (right) had a low-key Test summer compared to the new ball pairing with just eight wickets spread across his four matches.

And Wood managed to force his way into just one Test, against West Indies in the summer opener at Southampton.

Yet, Root (circle) has no doubt that Archer remains one of the most exciting talents in English cricket moving forward, after witnessing first-hand some impressive but unrewarded spells. And he backed Wood (below) to be a big part of the progress towards the Ashes in the winter of 2021-22.

England captain Root said: “Jofra has not taken the wickets he did last summer or in the past. He is a young guy learning his trade and

I thought he bowled magnificently in this third Test against Pakistan without much reward.

“There is always going to be a lot of talk around Jofra because of how exciting he is and what he has to offer. All we can do is keep encouraging him so we see him at the top end of his game as often as possible.

“With Woody, we want to make sure when he plays he can perform at the top end of his game.

“That is what gives him X factor and opportunity to make a difference so I am not concerned. We all know how special a talent Woody is and I can see him playing a lot more

Test cricket for England.”

England pinned much hope on the fast-bowling talents of the pair at the outset of this summer with their idea both will be needed in Australia in 2021-22. They intended to rotate the rest around one of the two 90mph men only for those plans to be ripped up when Anderson, Broad and Chris Woakes demanded inclusion with their wickets.

Root insisted long-term plans remain unchanged and their faith in the pair is unshaken. And he believes the components are in place to elevate them to the top of the Test rankings. He said: “We know we are not the best team in the world right now, but we have all the ingredients if we can keep getting better and learning from mistakes. In time we will be consistently competing with the very best.”

Anderson ended the summer series on Tuesday by taking the 600th

Test wicket of his career as England drew with Pakistan to win the series 1-0.

England’s next Test outing remains up in the air with the series against India scheduled for early next year more than likely to take place in United Arab Emirates between January and March. With one eye on that, Root also had words of encouragement for the two slow bowlers, Jack Leach and Dom Bess. He said: “Bessy did not get a huge chance to affect games because of the pitches and weather, but it would have been unfair on him to deprive him of that opportunity after he performed well in South Africa.

“We are in a place where we have two guys (Bess and Leach) desperate to learn. If we get to play sub-continent this winter, I’m sure they will get a chance.”