Archer could miss start of Ashes after carrying side strain during march to final

enough to prevent him from bowling over 90mph in the final.

Given the Ashes start on Aug 1, it is unlikely England would take any chances with the man whose emergence has taken the international game by storm in the past two months, and whose pace will be key to unsettling Australia’s top order. Archer, 24, will relish the prospect of tackling England’s old rivals, having done more than most to ensure the country’s 44-year wait for a World Cup title was ended courtesy of his bowling in the super over.

“I think that’s why I’m in the team – my death bowling,” Archer said last night, after being asked if he had been surprised to find himself bowling the decisive over. “Morgs [Eoin Morgan] did not even come over to me. I went to him, just to make sure that it was me.”

Archer’s rapid promotion into the one-day team, meaning longserving bowlers such as David Willey were cast aside, had prompted questions over whether team unity could be threatened. Archer insisted that was never the case.

“They’ve been a really good family to me,” Archer said, “especially Ben Stokes trying to calm me down before I bowled. Stokesy told me, even before the over, ‘Win or lose, today does not define you.’ [Joe] Rooty came up to me and said some inspirational words.”

Archer, like his captain, is acutely aware of what his inclusion, as a black man from the Caribbean, means for a sport still struggling to engage those beyond the confines of the white, middle-class, publicschool educated demographic.

“I hope so,” Archer responded, to whether the win might help attract a broader audience. “England is multicultural. We don’t choose where we are born. All I knew was my dad lived here and was born here and that I had an opportunity.”

His tale was given poignancy last night with the revelation by his father, Frank, that Archer’s cousin Ashantio had been shot dead in Barbados on May 31. “They were really close,” said Archer senior. “Jofra was really affected by the death but had to carry on.” Jofra Archer is facing a race to be fit for the start of the Ashes due to a side strain. The fast bowler – one of the heroes of England’s World Cup final triumph over New Zealand on Sunday – had been earmarked for a first Test cap in the match against Ireland at Lord’s, starting on July 24.

But the paceman is struggling with a muscle complaint that flared during the World Cup, albeit not seriously