England are facing a selection dilemma over Jofra Archer’s return, with head coach Brendon McCullum expecting the seamer to be back in contention for next week’s second Test against New Zealand.
Archer was rested for the Rothesay Series opener at Lord’s after playing a full part in the Indian Premier League, taking a break at his Barbados home while his team-mates kicked off their international summer with a 115-run win.
Exaggerated bowler-friendly conditions allowed England’s seam attack to make hay, Ollie Robinson and Gus Atkinson taking seven wickets each and Josh Tongue claiming five to pick up where he left off in the Ashes.
Dropping any of the trio to make way for Archer would seem harsh, but he has long been seen as an automatic pick when fit and available.
Spinner Shoaib Bashir did not get a single over at the home of cricket but, with a better batting surface expected at the Kia Oval, a specialist slow bowler could be required next time.
Archer is due back in England this week and could to be added to the squad before being assessed when the side begins training on Sunday.
“In the next couple of days we’ll probably drill down on that but we’re hopeful he will be available for the second Test, then we’ll work out conditions-wise where we’re at,” said McCullum.
“He’s following a plan (in Barbados). He’s bowling.
“We completely trust Jof and he’s shown us in the past what he does, which is get himself ready based on the plans we get together and come up with. He’s always turned up in the condition we wanted from him.”
Asked if the men in possession would be difficult to move aside, he added: “I hope so, because we need a huge array of fast bowlers based on the conditions you feel you’re going to be confronted with.
“You’re not always going to get this right, but you’re trying to pick horses for courses based on conditions to give yourself the best chance of winning. We’re lucky…the three seamers were brilliant.”
The fourth member of England’s pace unit, captain and all-rounder Ben Stokes, had a quieter game at a ground where he has frequently been the headline act.
He was only needed for seven overs, taking a single wicket on the final morning and was dismissed for 12 and nought.
He was far from the only batter to falter on a dreadfully-inconsistent surface – with eight other ducks across four innings and average score of 15.4 – but he has been light on runs for some tim
Since the start of 2024 he averages a modest 27.09, with just one hundred in his past 48 attempts.
He has just moved down a place to No 7 and McCullum believes his skipper will make a success of the new role.
“It would have been great if he had been able to get instant gratification with runs in this match. It didn’t happen, but I’m pretty confident we’ll see some runs and output in the Tests to come,” he said.
“Stokesy obviously hasn’t got the runs that he wanted of late but I’m confident with the work he’s been doing.
“I feel like he’s moving a lot better. I feel like his fluency is starting to come back.
“No 7 is quite a nice role for him. With his experience and cricketing nous, he’s able to operate and guide the tail quite nicely, plus he’s got the raw power if you’re eight or nine wickets down.”
PA
