CHRISTCHURCH — In a marked change of tone over Jofra Archer’s Test future, England coach Brendon McCullum has admitted the fast bowler might not get into the team next summer even if he is fit given the depth of pace options now available.
It comes after Archer landed a £1.2m deal with Rajasthan Royals on Sunday following a tug of war between England and the Indian Premier League in which the 29-year-old was initially left off the list for the IPL mega auction in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, before being added to it 48 hours before it started.
England, looking to carefully manage the workload of a bowler who has not played Test cricket since February 2021 following a succession of injuries, had requested Archer sit out next year’s IPL so he could concentrate on his red-ball return with Sussex at the start of the County Championship season.
That was seen as the first step on his path to playing in next summer’s Test series against India and the following winter’s Ashes in Australia.
But a new ruling that threatened bans of up to three years for previous IPL participants who sat out this year’s tournament forced England to accede to Archer’s demands to enter the auction at the final hour.
It means he will now be in India for most of April and May, scuppering England’s carefully prepared red-ball comeback plan.
Yet McCullum, aware that the emergence of Gus Atkinson and Brydon Carse has widened the pool of England fast bowlers that already included Mark Wood and Olly Stone, indicated Archer would not walk straight back into the team if he was fit to return next summer.
McCullum, speaking in the build-up to this week’s opening Test against New Zealand in Christchurch, said: “He’s got to sustain a decent workload and then put his hand up from there.
“There’s no guarantee though, we’ve unearthed some incredible talent in the last 12 months, which is a good problem to have. If you look around English cricket, the stocks are looking pretty good. If he can get fit and ready and that’s the skillset we’re after, he puts himself in the frame for selection. We’ll wait and see.”
That’s a marked shift in tone from Rob Key, England’s managing director of cricket, who has been emphatic in his messaging about Archer’s potential Test return, admitting earlier this year there was a “grand plan” in place to give him the best possible chance of playing in next winter’s Ashes series.
It is inconceivable that Archer will not be in England’s XI for the opening Test against Australia at Perth next November if he is fit. But McCullum’s words may have been an attempt to take the pressure off a player for whom expectations of an Ashes return are growing after a successful run of 20 white-ball matches for England since he resumed his international career in May.
His comeback plan has been so carefully managed by England that Archer admitted during the T20 World Cup in June: “I’ve got a PDF file of every single game I’m supposed to play in from now till next summer. They’ve really planned out almost everything. Probably the only thing they haven’t planned out is the showers I take.”
So what happens to those plans now the IPL has thrown a spanner in the works? “He is all-in for playing for England and to get back to red-ball cricket but at the same time there are significant opportunities for Jof,” McCullum said.
“We have to be fluid with that stuff. Wherever he ends up in the IPL, we have good relationships with franchises so we can make sure his schedule is managed to give him the best chance of playing Test cricket. That is the way the game is.”
One man who did make himself unavailable for the IPL auction is Ben Stokes, who knows his legacy as England captain could well be defined over the next year or so. “It is great for us that the skipper is committed to English cricket for the next period of time,” McCullum said.
Stokes had a difficult tour of Pakistan as he worked his way back from a hamstring injury that meant he missed the first Test and then struggled with his form in the remaining two matches as England lost the series from 1-0 up.
After the tour it emerged that his home in County Durham had been burgled during the second Test in Multan while his wife and two children were in. Stokes kept that event from the team but not from McCullum, who admitted there was never any conversation about the captain returning home from the tour.
“We know the skipper,” he said. “He is as tough as they come. There was a lot of noise. His injury was noise and that [burglary] can add to it. I’m not sure if that was on his mind but coming back from injury, that created some extra pressure on him and a bit of distraction. Now he is fully fit. He will be looking forward to being back at his best on this tour.”
McCullum, who breeds race horses in his spare time, also spoke about his five-year-old gelding named after England’s captain, with both in attendance to watch “Stokes” race at Christchurch’s Riccarton Park racecourse on 16 November.
“It is my horse,” McCullum said. “I bred it. And I was trying to name it. I was thinking it reminded me of someone. I phoned Stokesy and said ‘I’ve got this big chestnut, this big strong thing with a pale face and dodgy legs, any chance I could name him after you?’. That horse has got a big heart too so I thought it was a perfect name. He said, ‘Yeah, no problem.’ So he was there when it ran. It finished third. He ran well.”
Liz Truss needs to take her own advice, and cease and desist