Archer set to play first ODI for England in 18 months

NOTTINGHAM, England – Jofra Archer will play for England in the opening One Day International (ODI) against Australia at Trent Bridge on Thursday, making his first ODI appearance in 18 months.

England stand-in captain Harry Brook on Wednesday confirmed that the Barbadian-born pacer will feature in the first game of the five-match series,

It will be the first time Archer will turn out in an ODI since March 2023.

Additionally, Brook said there would be no restrictions on Archer’s workload.

The 29-year-old Archer has been carefully managed by England after elbow and back injuries in recent years.

“He’s obviously a world-beater, and it’ll be nice to have him alongside me and going out there and taking them on,” Brook told BBC Sport.

“I haven’t faced him much in the nets, I try and stay away from that.

“He’s our strongest seamer and he’s got a lot of experience behind him in white-ball as well. I’m looking forward to working with him and seeing him operate again,” he added.

Injury has limited Archer to just 21 ODI appearances with only seven of those coming since he played a starring role as England won the 2019 World Cup.

Since returning from injury, he has played exclusively T20 cricket.

With an Ashes series in Australia now 14 months away, this is a significant step up for him.

A six-over spell for Sussex’s second XI earlier this summer was the most he has bowled in a professional match this year, while he also played some club cricket in Barbados prior to the T20 World Cup in the Caribbean.

Another Barbadian in Jacob Bethell is also in England’s ODI squad. Bethell played in the preceding T20 series which drew 1-1.

SQUAD

England: Harry Brook (captain), Jofra Archer, Jacob Bethell, Brydon Carse, Jordan Cox, Ben Duckett, Will Jacks, Liam Livingstone, Saqib Mahmood, Matthew Potts, Adil Rashid, Phil Salt, Jamie Smith, Olly Stone, Reece Topley, John Turner.

CMC