Change in ECB rules makes Jofra Archer available for England

England and Wales Cricket Board has agreed to change its rules on players eligibility, and comes as big news for Jofra Archer. The 23-year-old will be able to play for England from the 1st of January, 2019.

The T20 star was born in Barbados but has a British passport as he has been on Sussex's books for the last 3 years. He moved to England after his 18th birthday and thus had to wait, under the old rules, for 7 years before he could be in contention for a place in the England squad.

ECB have now tweaked the rules and reduced the numbers of years of residence to just 3. Archer arrived in 2015 and thus will be able to get into the England mix from January 1st, 2019.

Archer has played Under-19 level International cricket for West Indies but wanted to represent England in the senior team. Ironically, Archer's first tour for England might be of the West Indies that is scheduled to start in January next year.

The new ECB eligibility criteria for players, both men and women, from January 1, 2019, are:

a) British Citizenship and,

b) Either born in England or Wales, or 3 years residence (a total of 210 days/year April-March) and,

c) Not played as a local player in professional international or domestic cricket in a Full Member country within the last 3 years

Under the previous rules, Archer had to wait until 2022 to get a chance of making it to the team, and by that stage, he would have been 27-years-old.

The move gives England a huge boost ahead of the World Cup that is set to take place from May 30th. It gives them enough time to try out Archer in the team and put him up with the likes of Chris Woakes, Liam Plunkett and Mark Wood.