TThere aren’t many bright spots in what has been a terrible Champions Trophy campaign, even by recent ODI standards for England. Brendon McCullum, however, claims that there were glimmers in the shadows.
The performance and physical condition of fast bowler Jofra Archer were the most impressive. He bowled his permitted quota in each of the first two games, as well as nine of the 29.1 England needed to send down in Karachi. Despite South Africa’s overwhelming triumph, he bowled with a respectable pace, taking wickets in every match and was by far the best of the English.

“He’s been out of competitive cricket for a couple of years,” McCullum stated. “I believe he’s been extremely terrific, but it’s taken him a little while to get that gaming rhythm. We’ve witnessed flashes of Jofra’s greatness, like tonight’s two wickets he took against Afghanistan the other night and three with the new ball. He’s bowled fast, played a lot of cricket, and been able to accumulate a substantial workload throughout this period.

“We know how great a player Jofra is at the very top of his game and to have him back and to have him fit and excited about playing is a real win for English cricket.”

Perhaps the most notable aspect was Archer’s usage of both the new ball and the wicket. With limited swing available, he didn’t go looking and kept things tight in his opening stint, although he did get Travis Head early with a superb catch off his own bowling. Before switching things up in his third over and collecting two wickets in five balls against Afghanistan, his first 12 deliveries were all hammered in short. And Archer was the fastest bowler on either side, dismissing openers Ryan Rickelton and Tristan Stubbs in his opening session, with Mark Wood out injured in a game with nothing on it and an impossible-to-defend total against a rampaging South Africa.

Given that one English player is always watching the Ashes, his capacity to handle heavier workloads will undoubtedly heighten expectations that he will play a significant role in the five-match series at the end of this year.
“We’ve got to make sure that we’re always doing the right thing by Jof as well and understand the risks involved,” McCullum stated. However, I’m very certain that he’s eager to play Test cricket, and if you can add him to the group of fast bowlers you’re attempting to assemble, that would only make this team stronger. One such player is Jof. We’ll have to wait and see, but all in all, I’m quite happy with Jof’s current situation and happy to see him playing again without any injuries.”

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