Jofra Archer set to face Australia in England’s Champions Trophy opener
Archer missed the final two ODIs against India due to a cut on his right hand.
Jofra Archer is primed for another showdown against Australia on Saturday with England optimistic they will have a clean bill of health for their Champions Trophy opener in Lahore.
A demoralising tour of India that saw England lose seven of eight white-ball matches including all three ODIs ended last week with injury concerns to several of their 15-strong Champions Trophy squad.
But while Archer missed the final two ODIs due to a cut on his right hand, he is set to be unleashed against Australia after playing a full role in England’s training session on Wednesday afternoon.
Going up against Australia has often brought out the best of Archer and there are hopes he might be a factor in England’s Ashes bid Down Under next winter, even though he is yet to resume playing first-class cricket on his latest comeback from longstanding elbow and back troubles.
Having been a standout in the 2019 Ashes, Archer shone in his last 50-over outing against Australia, with his express pace and movement helping England to victory at Lord’s in September.
Brydon Carse, who also starred in that fixture at the back end of the English summer, is England’s biggest concern with a badly bruised toe, but he was close to bowling at full tilt in their first practice since arriving into Pakistan from Abu Dhabi in the early hours of Tuesday morning.
Jamie Smith’s calf problem had sidelined him since midway through the T20 series but he batted and kept on Wednesday, opening up the possibility of him challenging Phil Salt for the wicketkeeping position.
Salt’s fellow opener Ben Duckett batted last among the main group after initial and confirmation scans revealed he had suffered no major groin injury in England’s tour-ending defeat in Ahmedabad last Wednesday, while Jamie Overton is set to be available having nursed a sore hamstring in India.
England became increasingly patched up as that trip progressed, never having a full complement to choose from after the first T20 while assistant coaches Paul Collingwood and Marcus Trescothick were named as substitute fielders at one stage.
They have already been forced into one change in their Champions Trophy squad, with Jacob Bethell’s left hamstring issue leading to a recall for Tom Banton after a three-year international exile.
Mounting injury concerns and an exhaustive schedule that meant travelling once every three days meant England did not train before the second and third ODIs, which was called into question by former internationals Ravi Shastri and Kevin Pietersen.
England are understood to be peeved by initial claims they had only been in the nets once on the tour, which proved misleading, having practised on multiple occasions during the T20 series.
Nevertheless, the accusations and the accompanying fuss were strong enough for both captain Jos Buttler and head coach Brendon McCullum to launch a robust defence of their preparation methods.
Every member of England’s Champions Trophy squad trained on Wednesday as they seek to turn around their ODI fortunes that has seen them lose 16 of their last 23 matches since the start of the 2023 World Cup.
Since thumping Australia in the 2019 World Cup semi-final, England have won three and lost nine of their last dozen ODIs against their oldest rivals.
However, the world champions have seen their preparations hard hit with captain Pat Cummins and fellow first-choice pacemen Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc, plus all-rounder Mitch Marsh, all unavailable.
While stand-in skipper Steve Smith, plus Travis Head, Marnus Labuschagne and Glenn Maxwell bolster the batting, Australia were bowled out for less than 170 twice by Sri Lanka and go into the Champions Trophy having lost four of their last five ODIs.
