ARCHER: I’M READY FOR WORLD CUP CHALLENGE
CRICKET
Jofra Archer feels “ready” to perform on the biggest stage after landing a place in England’s World Cup squad.
The Sussex paceman was named in Eoin Morgan’s 15man party, given the nod after impressing in a live audition in the recent series against Pakistan.
Archer has wooed England’s selectors with the raw pace which got English cricket so excited about him as he waited for his residency to be confirmed.
The 24-year-old is Barbados-born but has been able to be picked after three years in English cricket rather than seven after laws were changed.
“I got a call from (national selector) Ed Smith yesterday about 6pm. I was driving at the time, I felt the phone vibrate, I answered without looking at it. It is really exciting to be part of a big summer for English cricket,” Archer said.
“I’d put it in my head I would have to wait seven years, back in December they changed it a little but I was always prepared to wait.
“I think I’m ready. I’ve played a lot of cricket, I know how to deal with pressure, crowds, I think I’m ready, obviously because of that cricket, that was the reason I wasn’t able to play much List A for Sussex. You don’t forget how to bowl.”
Archer has been named at the expense of David Willey, the Yorkshire left-armer who has been a mainstay of the England side for the last four years.
Stories of how Archer’s arrival on the scene would affect a settled dressing room have been abound, but the man himself says he has been welcomed without issue.
“Everyone welcomed me with open arms from the moment I got in, it’s a really good team to be part of, great team, captain, support staff, one of the better teams I’ve played in,” he said.
Archer is fresh from an Indian Premier League stint with Rajasthan Royals and he says that experience has set him fair for the World Cup.
“I think it probably has given me a bigger advantage over some of the other guys in our team. We play them (big names) twice in the IPL, you know their weaknesses, strengths, if they can’t run between the wickets, you get extra bits of inside information,” he said.
“To be honest I think international cricket is the same intensity as the IPL, the only thing that’s changed is the amount of overs. I think I played some of the Pakistani players as well, it’s different, but it still isn’t different.”
Archer also insists England will have no problems staying focused during the tournament, where they have to face every side once before the knockouts.
“This is what the county season prepares us for, it’s relentless for five or six months,” he said.
“I don’t think it should feel any different because we play from March to September anyway, this isn’t other team’s summer, they’re not usually playing cricket at this time - little things that can work in our favour.”
With Archer’s inclusion long considered a formality, it was spinner Liam Dawson who assumed the role of ‘bolter’ as Joe Denly and Willey saw their dreams dashed.
Dawson was brought in from the cold in place of allrounder Denly.
The 33-year-old Denly had been included initially as a utility option, capable of stepping into any of the batting slots as well as offering back-up leg-spin. Recent evidence suggests he is not quite up to international standard as a bowler, though, and was used sparingly by captain Morgan during the recent Pakistan series.
Dawson, meanwhile, won the last of his three caps in October, when he left the Sri Lanka tour with a side strain. But he has impressed during Hampshire’s run to the Royal London One-Day Cup final and is considered a safer bet with the ball.
In the end the balance was tipped by Adil Rashid’s fitness, with national selector Ed Smith revealing the Yorkshireman is managing a niggling shoulder problem that requires injections.
“It was a very difficult decision. There were more players deserving of selection than there were places,” Smith explained. “It just turned out there had to be two unfortunate players and it falls to the selector to make those phone calls.”
Eoin Morgan (capt, Middlesex), Moeen Ali (Worcestershire), Jofra Archer (Sussex), Jonny Bairstow (wk, Yorkshire), Jos Buttler (wk, Lancashire), Tom Curran (Surrey), Liam Dawson (Hampshire), Liam Plunkett (Surrey), Adil Rashid (Yorkshire), Joe Root (Yorkshire), Jason Roy (Surrey), Ben Stokes (Durham), James Vince (Hampshire), Chris Woakes (Warwickshire),MarkWood(Durham).