Jofra Archer is back in England whites, a sight many feared might never re-appear. Four years of elbow niggles, a stress fracture in the back, and almost endless rehab sessions ended with a brisk run-up at Lord’s, a wicket with his third ball and, 39.2 overs later, match figures of 5 for 105 in a nerve-jangling win over India.
That, in essence, is the headline. The bigger picture, of course, is Archer’s own: he wants the Ashes. “I can play the other two [against India] if they let me,” he said. “I don’t want to lose this series. I told Keysey I wanted to play the Test summer and I wanted to play the Ashes. I think one tick is already there and I will do everything possible in my power to be on the plane in November.”
England’s medical staff, mindful of how precious a fully functioning Archer is, had mapped out every over he would bowl between March and December. The plan looked cautious on paper, yet here he was routinely touching 90mph (around 145kph), the speed gun figures barely dipping even in his eighth spell. No surprise, then, that Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum grinned like schoolboys the moment Archer marked out his run-up.
His first victim felt almost scripted: Yashasvi Jaiswal, caught neatly at second slip, slope aiding seam. Archer later broke it down in typically clipped fashion. “With the slope, that’s how I bowl to left-handers anyway. So, I guess it was just a matter of when, if I kept bowling like that. I can’t imagine many left-handers getting away with it.”
If day one brought the romance, day five provided the edge. Rishabh Pant and Washington Sundar copped exuberant send-offs as England searched – not entirely politely – for a series-swinging win. Archer admitted one barb towards Pant “wasn’t a proud moment” but added the intent had been collective. “I think everybody had a word today. It was nice that everybody… we went together as a group, as a pack basically. And, you know, it didn’t matter if it wasn’t just the bowler, you had the whole slip cordon, you had cover, you had mid-off. You had everybody going in with you.”
McCullum’s dressing-room hardly discourages such energy. The coach would rather pull players back than rev them up, and Archer’s natural tempo fits neatly. “Obviously it [Test cricket] would have been the format which would have taken the most time to come back to,” Archer explained. “So I played 50-over and T20 for the last year, year and a half, two years. And you always just wondered… the guys have played some really exciting cricket since Baz took over. I think the mentality of the team under Baz suits the way I like to play my cricket.”
For now there is a week off before Old Trafford. England will monitor the elbow – two minor operations since 2021 still linger in the medical notes – and the back, which only healed fully last winter. A second successive Test is not impossible, just unlikely if the numbers on the workload spreadsheet turn red. Fast-bowling coach Neil Killeen hinted as much, saying privately that Archer’s overs remain “ring-fenced”. Yet all involved accept that rhythm is only found by bowling, not spectating.
From India’s point of view, there were small wins in surviving Archer’s early burst on both innings, but Pant’s dismissal, slashing to point, left them short in pursuit of 193 on a wearing surface. Washington’s late counter merely delayed the inevitable. Archer, for his part, felt England had finally shed any reluctance to get under opponents’ skin. In a cricketing culture often accused of too much friendliness, that matters.
Numbers and narrative aside, the raw emotion lingered longest. When Archer trudged off with the new ball tucked under one arm, he paused by the pavilion steps for what seemed a deliberate moment. A remembrance of the long days in the Loughborough nets, perhaps, or simply a lungful of the St John’s Wood air he thought he might not inhale in Test kit again.
Next stop, Old Trafford – or, if the sports scientists overrule, perhaps the Oval. Beyond that, the Ashes charter departs in early November. Officially, places remain open. Unofficially, England have waited four years for Jofra Archer to be fit and firing. They are unlikely to leave him behind.
