'They can’t win without Jofra Archer' - Michael Clarke predicts Australia to win Ashes 2021-22

Former Australian captain Michael Clarke has expressed that England won’t be able to win the Ashes in Australia later this year, without their speedster Jofra Archer. The 26-year-old has been struggling with injuries in recent times. He has been in and out of action since the start of the year. A few days ago, it was confirmed that he will not return until the end of this year. 

This now means that the English will be without the experience and pace of Archer, who was expected to be one of England’s trump cards in the upcoming Ashes. Ben Stokes, the English all-rounder, has also taken an indefinite break from international cricket to focus on his mental health, which keeps him in doubt for the ICC T20 World Cup and the Ashes. 

England will be going with a largely inexperienced squad and a fragile top order. England’s last two Ashes tours to Australia have been disappointing. They lost in 2013-14 by 5-0, when Clarke was in charge of the team while they also went down by 4-0 in 2017-18. Australia currently holds the urn, after winning those 2017 – 18 series and then drawing 2-2 in England in 2019. 

Our quicks and Nathan Lyon should perform better than against India: Michael Clarke

While speaking on Sky Sports’ ‘Big Sports Breakfast’ on Friday, Clarke expressed that England can’t win without Archer in Australia and termed him the ‘fear factor’, “They can’t win without him. England cannot beat Australia in Australia without Jofra Archer. No Ben Stokes either, they’re cooked. Their batting is not that good. He (Archer) is their fear factor. Without Archer, I think they’re cooked,” Clarke said. 

Australia will be under a bit of pressure as well after losing the home Test series against India earlier this year. The former Aussie batter said that the Australia bowling unit should perform better than they did against India. He also noted that a year of thinking would have made the batting unit a bit better at what they do. “Our quicks and Nathan Lyon should perform better than against India. The batting is another year older and another year wiser. I think you’ll see a better team (in the Ashes),” Clarke said.