LONDON, CMC – Fast bowler Liam Plunkett believes Barbadian Jofra Archer’s pace will be a definite asset to England, if he is selected for the ICC 50-overs World Cup starting month end.
The 24-year-old Archer has been impressive since making his England debut last week in both of the shorter formats. And though the opening One-Day International against Pakistan was rained off at only 19 overs at the Oval on Wednesday, Archer bowled with tremendous pace in the four overs he was afforded, taking one for six.
Plunkett, who took the only other wicket to fall as Pakistan reached 80 for two, said Archer’s pace would get the attention of batsmen.
England’s Barbadian fast bowler, Jofra Archer.
“Jofra is obviously a class act. He showed it again today, he rocked up and bowled really nicely with pace and smashed the right areas and picked up the wicket,” Plunkett said.
“Pace is always good to watch. It looks quite easy for him, he just ambles in and bowls 93 miles per hour and makes it look effortless.”
England already boast a plethora of fast bowlers, with Plunkett joined by David Willey, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood, Ben Stokes and Tom Curran in the preliminary 15-man World Cup squad.
However, based on Archer’s recent displays, there have been calls from several quarters for his inclusion, with former England star Freddie Flintoff earlier this week urging selections to drop “anyone” to accommodate Archer.
Plunkett said there was no doubt Archer would improve any team of which he was a part.
“Pace is exciting. You can see from the Test series in the West Indies that when Woody (Mark Wood) was bowling rockets, you don’t see that day in day out, so when someone is bowling quick to have that buzz about them it is nice to have,” he pointed out.
“With him (Archer) in your squad you’re going to be a better team. Whoever is bowling best should be in the squad. If it wasn’t Jofra it would be someone else knocking on the door, there is always going to be someone there or thereabouts.”
Archer qualified to represent England last March after the England and Wales board reduced their eligibility criteria from seven years to three.
Though born in Barbados and having played a handful of matches for West Indies Under-19s six years ago, Archer holds a British passport through his father, and opted to make himself available for England at the senior level.
