Didn’t want to be bowling to Steve Smith after Ashes
Jofra Archer expressed his relief over not having to bowl to Steve Smith after the latter’s incredible summer and further went on to talk about New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson.
After Steve Smith’s fairytale return in the Edgbaston Test, England decided to unleash Jofra Archer, their last throw of the dice, at Lord’s, in an attempt to rattle the Australian. And rattle Smith he did. Literally flooring him with an excruciating bouncer to the neck which eventually forced the Australian out of action for a Test and a half.
However, just when Archer thought he had Smith’s number, the 30-year-old made an astonishing comeback in the fourth Test at Old Trafford, striking an impeccable double-century whilst also simultaneously smashing Archer to smithereens. Reflecting on the summer, Archer has now revealed that he is glad to not have to bowled to Smith, who accumulated a mind-boggling 774 runs in 4 Tests against the Three Lions.
Furthermore, the speedster also spoke about the challenge of coming up against another member of the ‘fab four’, Kane Williamson, and admitted that his side might find it equally difficult to bowl to the Kiwi skipper.
"I didn't want to be bowling to Steve Smith again any time soon after what happened last summer," Archer told Daily Mail.
“But New Zealand have Kane Williamson, who isn't going to give you much either. We're probably going to have to try a bit of everything against him, although he plays the short ball pretty well."
Not just Archer, but the bookmakers, too, enduring the same feeling, as at 3.40, they’ve the New Zealand skipper as heavy favorite to be his side’s top batsman. Archer, who, till date, has only ever bowled with the Dukes ball in Test cricket, will face a completely new challenge against the Kiwis with the country using Kookaburra balls. But thus far, in the lead-up to it, he has shown all the right signs, being the standout bowler for his side, scalping 7 wickets in the two warm-up games.
Kookaburra ball not for Archer
Archer has now admitted that he found bowling with the Kookaburra ball a particularly tough task and went on to discuss the ‘non-existent’ seam of the red cherry. Despite the tracks of both warm-up games being relatively flat ones, Archer is hopeful of the Mount Maunganui pitch in the first Test providing assistance for the quicks. The 24-year-old also stressed on the importance of being inventive with the ball due to the tendency of New Zealand pitches to flat out as the days progress.
"I'd never bowled with the red Kookaburra before, but I knew it was going to be tough and so it proved. People say it has a smaller seam than the Dukes ball we use in England but I'm not sure it has a seam at all. It isn't pronounced on any part of the ball. It doesn't hold its shine either and gets very old, very fast.
"We've heard conditions at Mount Maunganui might be more helpful and there could be a bit more pace, so we'll have to be the judge of that. But that may be something to work with.
When there's nothing on offer from the conditions, you have to try whatever you can. You have to be inventive over here, which is one of the things we've spoken about as a group.”
Whilst he was second only to Stuart Broad in the Ashes, the bookmakers are, however, backing Archer to deliver the goods for his side against the Kiwis primarily due to his pace which can cause a lot of trouble on the flat New Zealand decks. 3.50 is what the bookmakers have Archer at to be England’s top bowler in the 1st innings in the first Test in Mount Maunganui on Thursday.
