Golden Archer
Bowling sensation to join Stokes as England’s highest-paid player
Jofra Archer is a horrible fast bowler to face and his bouncer is lethal.
Generally, when facing quick bowlers you take cues from their run-up. Brett Lee and Shoaib Akhtar hit the crease hard with momentum from their approach to the wicket.
Archer does not do that. He is like a walking bowling machine. Everything looks casual, then all of a sudden it hits you hard. He does not give you any cues for your trigger movement. He ambles in and flings it down at 90mph with a fast arm release, fast hands and a strong wrist position that flicks the ball out of the fingers. For his bouncer, it is almost as if he flexes his elbow back (legally), making it quicker than you expect. It hits the batsman hard.
His technique is magnificent. That braced front leg is a wonder. Please, young English fast bowlers try to copy that front leg. When it lands, it is so straight, which allows him to put all his momentum through the front foot.
Then, the high arm position allows him to get over the top of the ball.
If there is any movement he will find it because of his seam position and release from his fingers. If there is any kind of bounce out of the pitch, he will extract it because of his height and pace. We saw that at the Oval.
When he is bowling with that new ball, the hardest shot to play is the hook, because of the pace and bounce. My advice is to play the ramp and glance it over the cordon to the third-man area.
The bouncer is quicker than his length ball, and bowlers who have a quicker bouncer than their full ball are the hardest to hook.
I said before the World Cup started that the bouncer would be the most effective ball of the tournament. After two games, England winning at the Oval and West Indies blowing away Pakistan at Trent Bridge, it has come true, and England are lucky to have someone such as Archer who can bowl it so well.
He is almost saving himself for that X-factor delivery because he knows the bouncer is his wickettaking ball. He dismissed Aiden Markram with that extra bit of oomph and bounce. Markram just dangled his bat at it and it flew to slip.
Before Archer came along, England’s bowling generally did not win matches that often. It was the batting. But we saw against South Africa that England’s bowling will win them games now because Archer can pin back teams with two or three early wickets.
When you have that kind of weapon, the opposition take more risks against other bowlers. Look at JP Duminy. He had just hit Moeen Ali for four over midwicket. Did he need to try to hit another boundary? No, but he got himself out because he realised he had to go after the fourth and fifth bowlers before Archer came back. Bowlers such as Moeen and Liam Plunkett will benefit because teams will now play out Archer and Adil Rashid, who are world-class performers.
The Oval pitch suits him, and he will be challenged on other surfaces. At the Oval, you could see in his second spell when he hit the pitch hard that there was bounce for tall bowlers. He will not enjoy the same bounce at other venues but he has adapted to conditions before, such as when playing in the Indian Premier League. He knows how to bowl in different conditions already, without having to try to learn at international level, and that is why he looks so special.
He will be a star in every format for English cricket for years to come. I believe that he will be one of the best Test bowlers within a year. Look at his record for Sussex. He averages 23. This guy can bowl, bat and field. England are extremely lucky to have him.
I guarantee Joe Root will have him in the Test team. He may have had his name written down in pencil before the Oval, but now it will be in felt-tip pen.
Archer will take the new ball with James Anderson, with Stuart Broad first change. Wait until he gets a Dukes ball in his hand. If he is damaging opponents with a ball that is not swinging and doing it with sheer pace and accurate short balls, then what is he going to be like when the ball is swinging around? He will be able to pin batsmen back with the short ball and then pitch it up and swing it.
He is world class.