Jofra Archer says England’s Headingley heroics will hit Australian morale
Jofra Archer has questioned whether Australia will declare again during the remaining two Ashes Tests as they struggle to come to terms with their dramatic one-wicket defeat at Headingley. The fast bowler also accused Australia, who had dismissed England for 67 on the second day in Leeds, of complacency during the thrilling run chase as Ben Stokes’s unbeaten 135 guided Joe Root’s team to an Englandrecord pursuit of 359 that levelled the series at 1-1 with two to play.
Archer believes Australia may well be mentally shot after throwing away the chance to take a 2-0 lead and retain the Ashes at the earliest opportunity when they “panicked” in the closing stages of what many are regarding as the greatest Test of all time.
“That’s the thing, never get complacent,” Archer said. “To be fair, 359 runs is a lot of runs. The crowd started to get on their backs as well, I think they panicked a bit. They probably thought they were going to roll us if they got a few quick early wickets but they didn’t and I’m glad we showed some resistance because the series isn’t over and in the upcoming games I don’t think they’ll declare now. If they do have a chance I don’t think they’ll be too attacking. If they draw the series they still get to retain the Ashes.”
Asked if he thought Australia would be demoralised heading into the fourth Test at Old Trafford next week, Archer said: “Yeah. They were in the field a long time. They got to the second new ball and still couldn’t bowl us out. All of those mental facts should sit with them next game.”
The 24-year-old also hit back at Steve Smith after the Australian ramped up the personal duel between the pair by pointing out on Wednesday that Archer had not actually dismissed him yet during this series, even if he did rule him out of the Headingley Test with concussion after hitting him on the neck with a short ball during the second match of the series at Lord’s. “Well, I can’t get him out if he wasn’t there,” Archer said.
“But there’ll be more than ample time to get him out. I’m not saying I won’t get him out but if we don’t get him out there’s 10 other people we can get out and if he’s stranded on 40 that’s not helping his team too much. He can’t do it all himself. We want to win the game. I’m not here to get caught up in a contest with one man. I want to win the Ashes.”
Archer, who also played a starring role in England’s World Cup win last month, also belittled Australian attempts to get under his skin during the Headingley run chase, the Barbados-born player falling for 15 when he was caught on the boundary trying to smash the off-spin of Nathan Lyon into the Western Terrace.
“It was terrible chat,” he said. “It made me laugh. I think it was either Tim Paine or [Matthew] Wade when it was going off [checking his dismissal]. Someone said: ‘That is a great shot, Jof.’ If it did go for six it would have been. I thought I had messed the series up so I was very relieved we are still alive and fighting. It doesn’t matter how many wickets we won by. It doesn’t matter how we got there. The point was that we did.”
There was gratitude for Stokes, too, with Archer saying: “Yes, he did give us a second life in this series. Everyone would like to win the World Cup and the Ashes as well so there’s no reason why we shouldn’t go and do it now.”
As for Australia’s batsmen, against whom he has taken 13 wickets at an average of 13.53 in his first two Tests, Archer said: “We might actually get them out for 67 – who knows? Everyone’s been bowling well, everyone’s got wickets, so that’s good. It’s not just one person taking all the wickets.”
Jimmy Anderson, England’s record wicket-taker who is working his way back from the calf injury he sustained on the opening day of the series at Edgbaston, is also looking to return for the fourth Ashes Test at his home ground of Old Trafford. “Hopefully he can do his thing and we can be off the field a bit quicker,” Archer said.
The fast bowler also refused to confirm he had been given a painkilling injection for the side strain that affected him during the World Cup before bowling England’s super over during the final against New Zealand at Lord’s last month. “Sorry, but how does that coincide with anything that was going on?” he said. “What I would say is that I’m fully fit and I’ve been that way from the start of the series.”
As for the atmosphere in England’s dressing room during the Headingley run chase, Archer spoke of the moment when, with England needing two to win, Lyon bungled a simple run-out chance to dismiss Jack Leach. “All I can say is that that last game was special,” he said.
“When Lyon fumbled the run-out, you could hear a heartbeat in the dressing room. There were so many emotions flying around. When the scores were level, it was just a big cheer. At least we knew the series was not over!” Specsavers is the official Test partner of the England cricket team