Rookie delivers record-breaking pace to help keep the series alive
England are still in parlous position, writes Scyld Berry at Lord’s, but have found a bowler to unnerve rivals
It was one of the great all-time duels, right up there with Allan Donald v Michael Atherton, and Andrew Flintoff v Jacques Kallis. When Australia’s champion, Steve Smith, faced up to England’s new prize asset Jofra Archer at 20 paces, there was a hail of fire – and when the smoke cleared, and their seconds stepped in, it looked as though Smith had been rattled by the two strikes which Archer had landed on him, judging by Smith’s freneticism after his return. Even if England go on to lose this match, they will still not be out of this series, because they now possess the fastest and most ferocious bowler on either side.
In delivering the fastest ball ever recorded for England, Archer reached 96mph. Earlier this year, Mark Wood had broken the record by touching 95mph in St Lucia, but whereas Wood steamed in, Archer loped; whereas Wood went wide in the crease, Archer got close to the stumps; whereas Wood’s short ball was evident enough to allow the West Indian batsmen a split-second in which to duck, Archer gave the Australian batsmen no escape route – not even Smith, the batsman who has scored more consecutive
fifties (plenty of them hundreds) in the Ashes than anybody else.
Archer delivered his slings and arrows with outstanding pace and accuracy – using a ball around 70 overs old, and on a slow pitch, where only one edge in the game to that point had carried to the slips, and then barely.
What Archer will do on a quicker pitch later in this series, such as Old Trafford and perhaps the Oval, might even make the reciprocal pain that England’s batsmen will suffer at the hands of Pat Cummins worthwhile.
There were at least three extraordinary features of Archer’s post-lunch spell in which he reduced Smith to the level of mortals. The first was that it lasted eight overs – seven with a very old ball, one with the new – and at the end of it Archer did not appear to be much exhausted at all. Umpires turn a blind eye to a fast bowler leaving the field at the end of a spell for at least a change of shirt, but Archer never went off.
A second aspect of Archer’s fitness was that Jack Leach was bowling at the other end, and therefore whisking through his overs, which allowed Archer little time at mid-on to recover his breath – while Archer himself, having a run-up of no more than a dozen paces, also maintained the over-rate, not dawdling back to his mark. And while Archer was England’s leading wicket-taker in the World Cup, and bowled the super over, and has represented teams in the T20 franchises run by Australia, Bangladesh, India and Pakistan, he is clearly justified in saying that red-ball cricket – first-class and Tests – is his favourite format. Only a Test match offers him full scope to fulfil his work ethic and passion and will to win.
Archer hit Smith on the left forearm when he had scored 70, and poleaxed Smith after hitting him on the left side of his neck when 80. For the best Test batsman in world cricket to have insufficient time on a flat pitch with a soft ball – has any debutant made such an immediate impact?
This was magnum-forces cricket: England’s unprecedentedly fast bowler pitted against Australia’s immovable object with the match and the Ashes at stake, the crowd roaring on Archer. In 2005, England had the fastest bowlers in the Ashes series, in Steve Harmison and Simon Jones, as well as Flintoff, and in 1985 when Ian Botham lengthened his run for one last hurrah. In Australia, England had the edge in 1970-71 when John Snow first patented the rib-cage ball, and in 1954-55 when Frank Tyson might have become the first to touch 90mph, and again when Harold Larwood unleashed Bodyline in 1932-33 – but not at home. Blessed, indeed, is Joe Root, though he might not feel it with his team in a parlous state.
When Chris Woakes came on, even though he had the second new ball, he somehow appeared closer in pace to Leach than to Archer. When Pat Cummins opened the bowling at the start of England’s second innings, and caught a tentative Jason Roy in two minds and had Root caught behind next ball, his pace was up there but the ball was new.
Archer might have to bowl even faster in Australia’s second innings, if England have an inadequate target to defend. In any event, Archer will have an even drier surface to exploit – inherently slow but with the odd ball bursting through the top, like the one from Peter Siddle from the pavilion end that leapt at Rory Burns.
Archer has credit in the bank: he earned more than two wickets in his first 29 overs in Tests. Even if England are unable to set Australia anything above 180, they still have a chance, because they are now equipped with a match-winner.