When England’s National Selector Ed Smith announced the preliminary World Cup squad this week, I was mildly amused to see Sussex’s gifted, young Barbadian all-rounder Jofra Archer missing from the list.
Archer is a highly-promising cricketer who could become regarded as a world-class bowling all-rounder in time. The fact that ECB changed their qualification rules (from 7 years to 3 years) to accommodate his availability for the upcoming World Cup is something that I found wrong. Fundamentally, Archer is a West Indian cricketer, who I think should be representing the Windies, not another country of his choice.
I believe that international sport should be played between two teams representing their mother country. I am prepared to be more flexible in my stance where the individual case is ‘clouded’ such as a young person being raised in a particular country and coming through their adopted country’s player pathway system, but I cannot condone the notion of selecting a country to represent based on improving one’s prospects of selection.
However, Archer is qualified to represent England under ICC rules, and the role of Ed Smith and his fellow selectors is not to take a moral stance. Their only priority is to select the best players available for selection to perform the task of winning cricket matches.
With this in mind, I felt it was odd that Jofra Archer’s name was missing from the preliminary squad list for this summer’s World Cup. Maybe Ed Smith is ‘playing cute’? Might he want Archer to earn his place in the squad first by excelling in the One Day Internationals in the first part of the summer. If so, it may be a wise strategy – especially given some of the public pronouncements by other members of the squad in regard to the morality (Chris Woakes) unfairness (Mark Wood) and potentially disruptive to team spirit (David Willey) that have emerged from the England team’s chosen ‘mouthpiece’ at various media conferences. However, one should note that each of these players may be vulnerable to ‘the chop’ should Archer gain selection in the final list of names submitted to the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 Tournament Referee.
The reason I major on Archer (re: cricket, not Tory party leaders of yesteryear!) is that I rate him so highly, that I think he could be the ‘point of difference’ England need in the lead up to the tournament. Has Liam Plunkett lost his ‘nip’? Has David Willey got it in him to dismiss the world’s best batsman at the start of an innings AND return at the death to knock over the tail too? Is Sam Curran going to play as a first-choice pick if he is in the final squad? Will Liam Dawson or Joe Denly actually feature in a match if they make the final squad of 15? Or will they be little more than a glorified ‘drinks-waiter’? With Archer, I can see him playing in every match and being a key player too in the moments that matter most.
So, with the cricket season underway, it is the responsibility of every player to earn their selection through IPL form, county Championship form or Royal London One Day Cup form. Fundamentally, the game is played best by players who let their bat and ball do the talking, and not their mouths. Archer has been quiet and respectful in the media so far. When it comes to bowling and also batting down the order, I expect him to be ‘the noise’ that helps England win the World Cup this summer. Let’s hope so!!
Neil Burns