Did arrogant Jofra Archer almost lose England the final Wisden Trophy?

[Forum363]

Now, let me be clear - this is a comprehensive series victory by England. However, with the bad weather around, despite being several levels above West Indies as a Test team (not to mention a weak Windies batting order which was further hampered missing two of their best batsmen), the fact that England came to within a few hours of losing the trophy is highly alarming.

A majority of the blame has to go to Archer. Touted by many as being among the best bowlers in the world after just a handful of matches, his performance and antics almost cost England this series.

FIRST TEST - Anderson is the best in the world in these conditions, so unless he's resting, there is no way he sits out. Wood is the fastest bowler in England and was absolutely brilliant in the last few Tests so it made sense to select him. That left the final spot as a straight shoot-out between Archer and Broad. It is abundantly clear now, just how wrong Stokes was in picking Archer. It is without doubt the reason England lost the first match. Archer bowled one decent spell but otherwise was average and managed to get just 3 wickets. He also spent the evenings on social media arguing with former players.

SECOND TEST - Enough has been said about him breaking the biosecure bubble so I won't go into detail. However worse than the breach was how Archer acted afterwards. He joined the squad without notifying anyone, fully intending to play the second test. It was only after he mentioned it in passing to the support staff, was it reported and England had to withdraw him on the morning of the match. This completely disrupted their planning and would have been a shambolic way to start a must win match. However luckily, their players stood up for them.

THIRD TEST - Archer spent the time between the tests writing a long article about how difficult the past few days were, how it wasn't a big deal, how much the media was unfair to him and how people had abused him on social media. He then walked into the team at the cost of the very reliable Sam Curran and proceed to bowl complete trash in the first innings. He took a wicket with a great bouncer (his speciality) however he went at over 4 an over against an exhausted and despondent West Indies lineup. His bowling alone was the reason West Indies avoided the follow-on. If he hadn't bowled poorly, the match could have been over in the third day instead of almost meandering to a draw due to the weather. In the final innings, Root gave him an extended spell to try and eek out a lucky wicket against the west indies lower order who seemed to have given up, yet he still struggled.


He ended the series with a 50+ average, just 26 runs, a biosecure breach and lots of self-pity.

Let me be clear - Archer has all the tools to go on to become an ATG. However his current attitude and performance is worrying and he needs to go back to the drawing board. Having said that - Pakistan might just be the team against whom his bouncer specialist bowling will be most effective...

 

[Bullet Drive]

Babar won the first battle when the two played against each other, lets see how he does now.

 

[Ab Fan]

What is he averaging now? Hasn't he broken down due to playing lot of tests?

 

[Forum363]

Babar won the first battle when the two played against each other, lets see how he does now.

I never thought I’d say this, but Shan might do well against him too. He seemed to handle the short bowling well in South Africa and his weakness is the swinging ball. Question is whether he would survive against Anderson and Broad long enough for Archer to come on.

 

[Forum363]

What is he averaging now? Hasn't he broken down due to playing lot of tests?

His terrible performance in New Zealand was put down to his ‘workload’ (he had a 2 and a half month rest before the tour) and the fact that it was his first series abroad. I wonder what excuses his fans will use for this series?

 

[Manunited18]

Give the guy a break, this is his 10th test match, broad and Anderson were averaging 30 -40 with The ball after 20 tests, early days will get better.

 

[anonymous_guy]

I never thought I’d say this, but Shan might do well against him too. He seemed to handle the short bowling well in South Africa and his weakness is the swinging ball. Question is whether he would survive against Anderson and Broad long enough for Archer to come on.

For Shan to dominate Archer, he needs to survive Broad's first spell.

 

[Forum363]

Give the guy a break, this is his 10th test match, broad and Anderson were averaging 30 -40 with The ball after 20 tests, early days will get better.

Anderson and Broad weren't being called the best in the world after 20 tests either.

Archer is touted by many as the first name on the sheet in all formats. And he himself swaggers around like he is the star player.

As I've made clear, his performance alone is not the issue, its how he's rated. For example Shaheen has had a brilliant start to his international career and their stats are not too far apart. However are you telling me you don't see a difference in how Shaheen and Archer are spoken about by fans / pundits/ the media etc.

Now admittedly Archer contributed to his side winning the world cup, but he was supported by the likes of a superhuman Stokes and ATG players such as Butler and Morgan. Shaheen was also superb in the world cup but initially wasn't picked and then Pakistan didn't make it through.

 

[sweep_shot]

Archer is overrated. England should play Curran/Anderson/Wood, Broad, and Woakes.

 

[shamaan]

Archer is overrated. England should play Curran/Anderson/Wood, Broad, and Woakes.

I'd defo play archer over wood in all conditions

 

[shamaan]

For Shan to dominate Archer, he needs to survive Broad's first spell.

Agreed his challenge will be broad and anderson more than archer

 

[Forum363]

I'd defo play archer over wood in all conditions

Wood appears to be a yard quicker, more skilled (expected at this stage since he’s more experienced) and also is a better batsman.

He’s entering the peak of his career and his workload needs to be managed but otherwise he should play ahead of Archer.

Anderson, Broad and Woakes are a certainty. Wood should be the fourth with Archer rotating in when rest is required. And Curran as backup for the other 3 when they need to rest up.

 

[Manunited18]

Archer in the tests has not been touted as the best in the world in the world in the test format.

Stokes root Anderson broad are all seasonal test match performers who are the main picks in the test 11.

Archer rightfully is rated highly, his performances in his maiden world cup were brilliant.shaheen is a bowler of hugh promise and has performed, that's up to the pakistan media and past players to make a judgment on shaheen and his standing in the game.

I'm in the firm belief had willey played in the world cup rather than archer then they would have come short of winning it as archer was excellent.

 

[shamaan]

Wood appears to be a yard quicker, more skilled (expected at this stage since he’s more experienced) and also is a better batsman.

He’s entering the peak of his career and his workload needs to be managed but otherwise he should play ahead of Archer.

Anderson, Broad and Woakes are a certainty. Wood should be the fourth with Archer rotating in when rest is required. And Curran as backup for the other 3 when they need to rest up.

More skilled based on pace ?.

 

[sweep_shot]

I'd defo play archer over wood in all conditions

Archer has a really bad attitude. Once he fix that, I can support him over Wood.

 

[shamaan]

Archer has a really bad attitude. Once he fix that, I can support him over Wood.

Agreed but Pakistan cricketers always had attitude does that mean we wont support them

 

[Forum363]

More skilled based on pace ?.

Based on the fact that he appears to set players up and has more skills with the ball in terms of seam/ swing then Archer who is a great Bouncer Specialist at this stage.

And pace is important when you’re above 90mph consistently and the fastest bowler in the country. For example, Archer will never be successful if he slows down anymore because he doesn’t have the accuracy or the swing etc to get people out like that (at this stage). Pace is a key part of both his and Wood’s game and the fact that he was bowling around 85 this game is not a good sign.

 

[Forum363]

Agreed but Pakistan cricketers always had attitude does that mean we wont support them

No Pakistani cricketer with the exception of the akmals maybe have shown this level of entitlement and arrogance a year into their career.

Hassan for all the hate he gets, was nowhere near this bad. And although he didn’t win a World Cup, he did win us a champions trophy and had a brilliant start to his international career and was younger than Archer.

 

[shamaan]

No Pakistani cricketer with the exception of the akmals maybe have shown this level of entitlement and arrogance a year into their career.

Hassan for all the hate he gets, was nowhere near this bad. And although he didn’t win a World Cup, he did win us a champions trophy and had a brilliant start to his international career and was younger than Archer.

Arrogant am sure he said hes going to take 6 india wickets before he got battered in bowling that's called arrogant f

 

[shamaan]

Based on the fact that he appears to set players up and has more skills with the ball in terms of seam/ swing then Archer who is a great Bouncer Specialist at this stage.

And pace is important when you’re above 90mph consistently and the fastest bowler in the country. For example, Archer will never be successful if he slows down anymore because he doesn’t have the accuracy or the swing etc to get people out like that (at this stage). Pace is a key part of both his and Wood’s game and the fact that he was bowling around 85 this game is not a good sign.

Wood has more seam and swing than archer what cricket do you watch lol.

Archer swings and seems the ball more than wood can imagine wood just bowls fast

 

[Manunited18]

Based on the fact that he appears to set players up and has more skills with the ball in terms of seam/ swing then Archer who is a great Bouncer Specialist at this stage.

And pace is important when you’re above 90mph consistently and the fastest bowler in the country. For example, Archer will never be successful if he slows down anymore because he doesn’t have the accuracy or the swing etc to get people out like that (at this stage). Pace is a key part of both his and Wood’s game and the fact that he was bowling around 85 this game is not a good sign.

Archer has the most balanced and economical action you can see in a fast bowler, he maximizes his height and his balance and wrist is excellent at the point of release, therefore his accuracy is good. Seriously where do u get these presumptions from, also archer is a seamer rather than a swing bowler and it will take timevto get in to the groove of test cricket on a consistent bases

 

[Forum363]

Arrogant am sure he said hes going to take 6 india wickets before he got battered in bowling that's called arrogant f

You mean this quote? ‘I would like to do my wicket-taking celebration 10 times against India but let’s see what happens. I will do my best to take wickets for my team and for my fans who want to see my wicket-taking celebrations.’

Yes - the use of the words ‘I would like to’ and ‘I will do my best..’ and ‘but let’s see what happens’ clearly exude such arrogance wow.

 

[Forum363]

Wood has more seam and swing than archer what cricket do you watch lol.

Archer swings and seems the ball more than wood can imagine wood just bowls fast

Ironic that you are using ‘just bowls fast’ to put down a bowler in comparison to Archer when not long ago - that was the biggest plus point in Archer’s bowling... before he slowed down.

 

[Forum363]

Archer has the most balanced and economical action you can see in a fast bowler, he maximizes his height and his balance and wrist is excellent at the point of release, therefore his accuracy is good. Seriously where do u get these presumptions from, also archer is a seamer rather than a swing bowler and it will take timevto get in to the groove of test cricket on a consistent bases

Archer does have a nice smooth action, and good potential.

But that isn’t enough to overrate him to the level he is being. He has performed in literally 3 or 4 tests and has been rubbish in the rest. Surely it is a gross exaggeration to call a bowler like that among the best in the world, or put his name on the sheet ahead of the likes of Broad.

Wood for all his limitations has improved leaps and bounds and in his last test series, won England the last two matches that he played.

 

[Manunited18]

Archer does have a nice smooth action, and good potential.

But that isn’t enough to overrate him to the level he is being. He has performed in literally 3 or 4 tests and has been rubbish in the rest. Surely it is a gross exaggeration to call a bowler like that among the best in the world, or put his name on the sheet ahead of the likes of Broad.

Wood for all his limitations has improved leaps and bounds and in his last test series, won England the last two matches that he played.

Your making it out as if archer has played 30 tests, examples of what I'm trying to point out are both jimmy and Stuart who both struggled initially in test cricket. Archer is a clutch bowler, once he settled in tests he will have matches were he will be really eye catching and times he won't. He brings different dimensions to the England attack and people like Chris silverwood, stokes, root who are in a much better position than us to judge know that the guy potentially is a gun test bowler.

 

[Forum363]

Almost 5 years later, continues to lose England matches when he eventually does play over his countless injuries (‘effortless action and pace’).

Yet people still mention him as some world beating superstar.

Most overrated cricketer in history.