Archer misses out on tour to West Indies
Sussex paceman omitted due to residency rules England pick same Test squad as for Sri Lanka
Jofra Archer remains a World Cup candidate for England despite not being considered for selection for the tour to the West Indies next month.
The rules around eligibility for selection are relaxed from seven years to three on Jan 1, but the small print requires players to spend at least 210 days out of 12 months in this country. Archer fails to meet the residency requirement because he will be playing for Hobart in the Big Bash over the next six weeks.
The Sussex fast bowler was aldies, ready committed to playing for Hobart before the England and Wales Cricket Board announced its new registration rules last month and did not want to break a contract.
It meant that when the selectors met at Lord’s yesterday to pick the squads for the Test and 50-over matches in the West Indies, he was not discussed for selection, al-
though it is hard to believe a player with his rare quality of bowling at more than 90mph was not talked about, particularly given that England will play no more cricket after this tour before having to name their provisional World Cup squad on April 23.
In one of the more simple selection meetings of recent years, England chose an unchanged squad for the three Tests in the Caribbean, sticking by the players who whitewashed Sri Lanka 3-0.
The one-day squad featured two changes. Olly Stone was replaced by David Willey, who returns from injury, while Liam Dawson, who went home early from Sri Lanka with a side strain, loses his place to Joe Denly, who was man of the match in the only international game he played all tour, a Twenty20 match in Colombo.
The exact date when Archer will be available for England selection is unclear as it depends whether Hobart reach the later stages of the Big Bash. If they are knocked out early, he could return home and perhaps be available for some of England’s three Twenty20 games against West Indies, the squad for which has not yet been announced.
Red tape may be preventing Archer from playing in the West In-
but he is putting pressure on the fast bowlers in the squad from afar. Mark Wood bowled poorly in his one appearance in Sri Lanka and has a history of inconsistency but, with Stone left out of the one-day team, has a chance in the Caribbean to seal his place as the team’s No1 out-and-out fast bowler. If not, Archer awaits his chance.
“I wouldn’t rule anything out,” Ed Smith, the national selector, said when asked about Archer. “It’s more like when a decision comes up, it’s just attend to it with as much focus and clarity as you can.”
It is rare for England to name unchanged Test squads for tours, but Sri Lanka was their first overseas whitewash for more than 50 years.
Denly left Sri Lanka fearing his only chance of a Test cap had gone but he must be grateful for the backing of Smith, his former Kent colleague, who believes he deserves to be judged on more than two innings in warm-up matches. He was retained ahead of taking a look at Jason Roy.
Ollie Pope will continue his development playing for the Lions in India after being sent to them halfway through the Sri Lanka tour. Ben Foakes formally takes his place in the squad, having been played in Sri Lanka as a late injury call-up.