Jofra Archer and Test cricket: To be or not to be?
A year and a bit ago, England, hoping to quench their thirst of a World Cup crown, fervently searched for fast-bowling alternatives – choices that could enhance their current stock and provide a touch of novelty.
During that forage, they stumbled upon a lanky, bustling young lad, who had been plying his trade for Sussex and for numerous T20 sides across the planet.
Subsequently, the Three Lions, rather uncharacteristically, forewent their slightly stubborn approach and fast-tracked the pacer who had caused ripples across the cricketing circuit.
A couple of months later, under the glare and the glamour of the World Cup final at Lord’s, that very fast bowler conjured one of the most nerveless displays of bowling in that manic Super Over. Ultimately, England won by the barest of margins and unsurprisingly, Jofra Archer stood tall amid the jubilation.
Post that, as has been the case recently with limited-overs specialists, Jofra Archer was brought into the Test fold as England hoped to recreate his aura of creative nous, dazzling speed, extraordinary character and above all, fear.
In the Ashes series that followed, Jofra Archer provided a glimpse of what he could achieve, especially at Lord’s, when he rattled the Australians’ cage (quite literally).
And, a game later, England seemed to have been vindicated as the Sussex seamer returned with a six-wicket haul at Headingley.
Inevitably, England, relishing the prospect of a genuine fast bowler in their ranks, placed all their hopes of Ashes success on Jofra Archer, despite him having played a handful of international red-ball matches.
With the series squared at 1-1 and the caravan moving to Old Trafford, the fast bowler was perhaps subjected to more expectations than he would’ve ever imagined.
Rather unfortunately though, he turned in a timid display, meaning that the Australians stole a march and retained the Ashes by virtue of a victory in that encounter.
And, while Jofra Archer returned with commendable match figures of 6-128 in the succeeding Test, the jury had already been out on the nature of his performance at Old Trafford.
Under another rendition of the dreary Manchester weather, the fast bowler was entrusted with sharing the new ball, alongside Stuart Broad. Though the conditions favored fast bowling, Jofra Archer, much to everyone’s dismay, wasn’t able to scale the peaks he did at Leeds, a week ago.
More worryingly though, he failed to crank up pace and seemed pedestrian for much of the first innings. To put things into perspective, Australia piled on 497 and England never really recovered.
Nearly a year later, at The Ageas Bowl, Jofra Archer was culpable of something similar against the West Indies. With only 204 on the board, the English faithful hoped that the fast bowler would conjure something special and trouble the visitors with a tearaway bowling display.
Yet, nothing of that materialized, meaning that the West Indies countered his threat and set the foundation for a seemingly improbable triumph.
In fact, that outing also led ex-West Indian fast bowler Tino Best to quip that Archer had not been bowling fast enough. And, to a certain extent, the former was perhaps right.
For much of his Test career, Jofra Archer has emphasized calculation over creativity, especially since the Ashes. In turn, that has meant that he has not been able to ruffle batsmen up with his searing pace while he has also not dug too deep into his vast repertoire.
Additionally, the Rajasthan Royals player has not been able to sustain the intensity of his bowling spells, barring a handful of Tests during the Ashes and one encounter at Centurion at the turn of the year.
Furthermore, Jofra Archer, perhaps owing to his inexperience, has resorted to floating deliveries on a slightly fuller length, hoping for the overhead conditions and the pitch to help him out. Consequently, he has not been able to stick to his USP, which remains hitting the track hard and rushing batsmen into their strokes.
Most importantly though, the pacer has carved a niche for himself in white-ball cricket, meaning that he has often had to mix up his line, length and pace to outfox the batsmen.
In the serene environment of Test cricket though, he hasn’t been accorded that sort of luxury and he has probably not been able to work things out on his own as well.
Thus, a year on from his heroics at the World Cup and the Ashes, the debate is still raging on whether Jofra Archer is as suited to Test cricket as initially thought.
And, the fast bowler has negatively stoked that fire by his recent disciplinary breach, wherein he was handed a hefty fine and was dropped from the England team for their most recent Test.
Though such violations and stretches of ineffectiveness might prompt the top brass to introspect a player’s future, one reckons that slightly different yardsticks might apply to Jofra Archer. Or, rather, they should.
To put things into perspective, the pacer, due to the X-Factor that he possesses, would always be scrutinized much more than the average cricketer. On the flip side though, he would also be idolized way more whenever he can unfurl the tricks that only he is capable of.
Talents like Jofra Archer bless a country’s cricketing ranks once in many years and it would seem pretty unwise if he is thrown away by the wayside, just because he took a little longer to acclimatize himself.
Hence, it seems that time could be the key word in Jofra Archer’s pursuit to become a premier cricketer in the longest version of the sport.
If one were to indeed draw parallels, one could look at Jasprit Bumrah - another cricketer who was considered fit for ODIs and T20Is, before he established himself as the gold standard in Test cricket as well.
The key difference though, remains that the Indian had played many more international games before switching between formats and stamping his authority.
Jofra Archer only made his international debut in 2019
At times, it is easy to forget that Jofra Archer only made his England bow weeks before the 2019 World Cup and for all the experience he possesses in T20 leagues, he is just a year old into international cricket.
And, if one were looking for similar career trajectories closer to home, no one embodies it more than Ben Stokes. The England vice-captain, much like Jofra Archer, burst onto the scene in the Ashes, before being slightly errant in the matches that followed.
To add to that, he was involved in that controversy at Bristol (September 2017), wherein he was charged with affray. Yet, he took all of that in his stride and has arguably become the perfect cricketer.
Thus, it would really seem foolish to jump the gun, draw conclusions about Jofra Archer and punish him dearly for his follies. There are certain cricketers that take just a shade more time to mature and provide the best version of themselves. Till then, patience remains the virtue that needs to be prioritized.
And, as far as his current Test assignments are concerned, it is rather ironic that Jofra Archer could have his shot at redemption at Old Trafford, the scene where the first chinks in his armor began to surface.
Yet, if given the opportunity, one reckons the pacer might not fret too much. In fact, despite being panned for a rather insipid performance at The Ageas Bowl, Jofra Archer still managed to trouble the West Indians intermittently, with Shai Hope bearing the brunt of it.
After all, he would fancy himself to stand strong in the face of adversity, especially after having set a congruent precedent at the World Cup final in 2019.
With regards to his Test future though, we may not know too much about it over the next week. But, then again, haven’t we all been too guilty of writing off cricketers or glorifying them too swiftly?