The England team management will continue with their strategy to manage the workload of pacer Jofra Archer during the upcoming five-match ODI series at home against Australia, starting on September 19. Notably, during the recently concluded three-match T20I series against Australia, which ended at 1-1, Jofra Archer delivered only 3.3 overs in the first match for England before getting a rest for the second T20I, while the third match was washed out in Manchester.
After recovering from a recurring elbow injury, Jofra Archer has been a part of England’s T20I team, playing a couple of matches in a series against Pakistan earlier in the year before appearing in all the eight matches in the T20 World Cup 2024. In domestic cricket, the right-arm fast bowler has been a part of Sussex in T20 cricket before competing for the Southern Brave in the Hundred in a limited number of matches.
Jofra will have to be managed throughout the series: Jos Buttler
During a recent interview, English captain Jos Buttler, who has been ruled out of the five-match ODI series due to a calf injury, spoke about the progression of Jofra Archer in the ongoing summer of cricket in England. He was quoted as saying to Sky Sports, “Jofra will have to be managed throughout the series. He’s played a really good stint now of T20 cricket, but obviously, you can only bowl four overs in there. There’s a jump in intensity getting loads up to taking a full part in an ODI – and of course, as an England fan, to push those loads up hopefully to get back into the Test arena as well.”
Meanwhile, Marcus Trescothick, the England interim coach, remarked that Jofra Archer was feeling “comfortable” about the long-term plan from the ECB to manage his bowling workload. He said, “He (Jofra Archer) knows the plan. It’s discussed long in advance of picking the team on each day. We know what we’re doing with him, and where we’re going. He’s comfortable: he knows what he’s doing.”
“That’s a bigger structure, in terms of what we’re trying to do with Jofra. You come into the series knowing what we’ve got and what we can do with him. That’s an agreed plan between the coaches, directors, physios, and all the different people. We’ll still be managing him [in the ODIs] – exactly the same thing,” said Marcus Trescothick, who will be coaching England in limited-overs cricket until Brendon McCullum takes over from him.