West Indies-born pacer Jofra Archer on England radar for World Cup

It’s not too far away for the 10 teams set to compete in the upcoming ICC World Cup to come up with their respective squads. Even though the sides are still engaged in last-minute engagement to decide on the final picks for the mega event, one news emerged from the camp of hosts England, also considered among the favourites to lift this year’s trophy.

The Three Lions might pick West Indian Jofra Archer for their WC squad and top people like England’s cricket director Ashley Giles and captain Eoin Morgan have confirmed that the young fast bowler is on the radar. Born in Barbados, the 23-year-old plays for Sussex and is yet to play international cricket. As far as laws of nationality are concerned, the man possesses a British passport and will soon qualify to don the England jersey.

“He is an exciting cricketer and his hat will be in the ring. It will be exciting when Jofra is available. Any guy who bowls 90 miles per hour is going to create interest and get people out of their seats. His skills are good and he’s a massive one-dayer. He will be available from the end of March,” Giles, who recently took over from Andrew Strauss, was quoted as saying by SACricketmag earlier this month.

Archer has an impressive first-class & T20 record

Jofra Archer is currently playing for the Hobart Hurricanes in the Big Bash League in Australia and has also played for Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League last year. The bowler, who made his first-class debut in 2016, has picked 131 wickets in 28 matches at an average of 23.44. He already has 10-four wicket, five five-wicket and one 10-wicket haul to his credit in first-class cricket. He is also two short of 100 wickets in 75 T20Is.

“Jofra’s quite close to qualifying. I’ve played against him a lot, he’s in demand around the world and I think that’s justified because of the talent that he is, and his performances not only at Sussex, the IPL, Big Bash, he’s done some brilliant things. So again, we are open-minded to things. We’ll make a decision once he’s actually available,” Morgan said.

England, who are currently in the West Indies for a full-fledged tour, will be taking on South Africa in the first match of the World Cup at the Oval on May 30.

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