‘Jofra’s back?’ – analysing Archer’s Test return

Jofra Archer sat proudly by the Lord’s boundary edge as a crowd that had been put through the wringer ebbed away.

“It has been a long journey and I can’t tell you about the amount of keyboard warriors there have been over the past three years or so,” he said.

The 30-year-old fast bowler, after 1,597 days away from cricket’s biggest stage, had done so much to secure England’s dramatic third-Test win over India on his return.

“It was pretty hectic, for the first game back,” Archer told Sky Sports.

As Archer said, there have been many who doubted whether this week would come.

Between Test appearances, Archer had multiple surgeries on a stress fracture to his elbow and also had to overcome a stress fracture in his back.

In the end he finished with figures of 5-107 across the match. No England bowler took more.

“You can just see what happens around the ground when he gets announced,” said captain Ben Stokes.

“The crowd lifts, the atmosphere changes, the batters feel it when he comes on. To back up spells like he has done is going to do him the world of good.

Any doubts as to whether Archer still had the skill for red-ball cricket were effectively answered in his first over of the match, when he dismissed Yashasvi Jaiswal with his third delivery.

Having been given the new ball immediately on his return, he was the bowler Stokes turned to again and again throughout the match.

Archer’s new-ball spell in India’s second innings on the fourth evening, despite including another dismissal of Jaiswal, was wayward, but he still opened the bowling on day five with the game in the balance.

Archer responded by ripping out Rishabh Pant’s off stump, two balls after India’s most dangerous remaining batter had advanced to hit him for four down the ground, and added a word into the departing India wicketkeeper’s ear.

“I just told him to charge that one,” said Archer.

“He came down the track and that annoyed me a little bit so when the ball nipped down the slope, I was so grateful for that.”

Former England captain Michael Vaughan described Archer’s performance as “a great comeback”.

Most valid concerns around Archer’s return were about whether his body could cope with the five-day game, whether he could back up spell after spell, day after day.

If his three wickets in the fourth innings were not enough, nor the feeling that he was the most threatening England bowler on show, the underlying numbers also suggest this was a hugely encouraging return.

Firstly, Archer’s pace held up throughout the match.

Having bowled the third-quickest new-ball spell on record by an England bowler on day two, he averaged 87mph on day three, 87.8mph on day four and 87.4mph on day five.

Although he sometimes conserved his energy against Ravindra Jadeja to save his effort-balls for the tail, he still topped 90mph with 10 deliveries on the final day.

Looking deeper, the statistics suggest Archer became more threatening as the match continued.

The false shot percentage off his bowling climbed from 10% on day two to 19% on day five – another promising sign.

Coming through one Test, of course, does not mean Archer’s injury issues are behind him.

After their caution to this point – he had a PDF file carefully mapping out the matches he would play for the past 18 months as he built to full fitness – England must now decide whether Archer can play in the fourth Test after an eight-day break or instead be saved for the fifth at The Oval.

No decision has been made yet, publicly at least. Gus Atkinson will be fit for the Old Trafford and fellow fast bowler Mark Wood still holds hope of being fit for the series finale.

England’s options are growing.

“The fact he showed the willingness to put his body through what he has there shows how much it means for him to play for England,” said former England captain Sir Alastair Cook.

“He will settle down and be part of that bowling squad England need.

“When you have bowlers of that pace the impact for a captain, not only on the game but the crowd, is so important.”