When Jofra Archer burst on to the scene in 2019, anyone could hardly doubt his lethality, especially when on Test debut at Lord’s, a searing bouncer from the quick forced Steve Smith to be concussed out.
But a bothersome elbow injury since January 2020 kept Archer out of Test cricket for four years. England sorely missed him in the two Ashes series, in 2021-22 and 2023, besides the tour of India in early 2024.
Now, close to seven years since his international debut, there are more than enough doubts over the speedster.
A fair bit of optimism surfaced when Archer got his lengths right to strike at crucial junctures in his comeback Test at Lord’s against India in July, helping England defend 193 by 22 runs. But surprisingly, in the ongoing Ashes, the 30-year-old has been far from his best on the hard, bouncy surfaces in Perth and Brisbane.
A few penetrating spells aside, he has picked up only three wickets from the two Tests so far. If that wasn’t enough, after the loss at Gabba, England’s fast-bowling greats James Anderson and Stuart Broad questioned the Barbados-born quick’s inability to work up extra pace at the time of the team’s need. They felt Archer cranked up 150kmph only when Australia had practically sealed the Gabba Test.
What exactly then ails the 30-year-old?
“When I first came across Jofra in the Barbados U-19 team, he bowled really, really quick on even some of those flat surfaces. When he began his international journey, we all saw that bouncer to Smith.
“But are we getting to see that Jofra of the past? No. That zip in his bowling cannot be felt. I believe he hasn’t recovered fully from that elbow injury,” Dexter
Toppin, a senior Barbados
coach who mentored the quick in his early years, told The Telegraph.
“He was out of international cricket for a long time. And since his return, he doesn’t seem to be as lethal. England need Jofra to rip through the opposition line-up rather than bowl just a few good spells. He’s not able to do that,” Toppin stated.
More game time
With pacer Mark Wood ruled out and most of the other bowlers struggling, as England are 0-2 down, an in-form Archer would have been the best thing for Ben Stokes’ side going into the Adelaide Test.
Rajasthan Royals’ former high performance fast bowling coach Steffan Jones remains optimistic about Archer having a “major impact” on this Ashes. “Fast bowling lives on rhythm, and rhythm only comes from overs in matches. Not from nets or drills. And Jofra hasn’t been able to build on that rhythm for years because of injury.
“He’s not the same physical version of himself
from six or seven years ago. Years of injury can change any athlete, and people
need to understand that,” Jones explained.
“People get carried away with the scoreline or whether ‘the game was dead’ in the second innings. Professional fast bowlers don’t choose when to try and bowl fast.
“He’s simply not in rhythm yet, and rhythm doesn’t return on command. It returns through overs in proper match intensity. He bowled a few balls at decent pace, and he will get better every time he plays. The only way a fast bowler, especially on return, gets truly better is by playing actual games.”
