ARCHER: WE HAVE PEAKED AT RIGHT TIME
CONTENDERS for the title ‘best day of my life’ have come thick and fast for Jofra Archer in the last two years with an almost daily need for reassessment of late.
There was his shock milliondollar sale at the IPL auction last year. There was making an England debut 73 days ago.
And now there has been taking a wicket with his first ball in a World Cup semi-final as England charged into their first final in 27 years.
Asked whether the last was his new best, Archer said: “It’s one of them. Sunday could maybe be it, so I will save it for Sunday.”
Such is his staggering progression through the ranks that even a World Cup final could face some competition before the end of the summer, with his refined yet furious pace a commodity almost impossible for England to resist in the Ashes.
“After Sunday, I’ll probably answer that (about the Ashes), but for now I’m just focusing on trying to win the final,” he said. “If it doesn’t happen, it doesn’t happen. I will probably get a much-needed rest, as I’ve been going all year, so whatever happens I’ve got something to look forward to.”
Archer (in bowling action, right) has much to be proud of in a World Cup campaign that has seen him take 17 wickets – more than any other England bowler. “It has gone pretty all right,” he said with soft voice and booming understatement. “Not just me, but the whole team is doing really well. We didn’t have smooth sailing the whole tournament, but we peaked at the right time.
“We should be able to take this momentum with us all the way through to the final.”
Archer’s pace has been explosive and Australia wicketkeeper Alex Carey will attest to its potency, having had to have eight stitches in a chin wound after he knocked his helmet off with an 86mph bouncer.
Yet there were two other moments which demonstrated that Archer (above) possesses a rare skill: a first-ball lbw to get rid of Aaron Finch, which set the tone, and a brilliantly disguised knuckle ball (a delivery sent down from a knuckle grip rather than fingers, which effectively arrives after the shot has been played) to fool Glenn Maxwell.
In the context of the semi-final, both were key moments. “It definitely pushed the team (when Finch went first ball), emotions were definitely flying after that. Everyone was just a lot more focused and switched on,” said Archer. “It is probably the first time I have got a wicket off the first ball of anything I have bowled.”
And his bouncer which drew blood from Carey (below)?
“Sometimes you don’t always mean to hit them,” he said. ”It can be a wicket-taking ball or a dot ball. I try to use my two bouncers every over anyway and, when it hits them, you feel a little bit bad for doing it, but it’s cricket.
“I don’t think he’ll be the last person to get hit.”
New Zealand batsmen take note.
Archer, 24, has more to look forward to than anyone in this England set-up. He is already one of cricket’s hottest properties, but wider recognition awaits – if he can bowl his side to World Cup glory at Lord’s tomorrow.