Jofra Archer allowed himself a wry grin as a top-edged pull from Ishan Kishan during Sunday’s IPL clash in Hyderabad sailed over the wicketkeeper’s head. Next ball, Ishan lifted him over extra cover for six more, leaving Archer’s expression to tell a different story.
His first over had already gone for 23, thanks to Australia’s Travis Head. And before long Archer would be nursing figures of 4–0–76–0, the most expensive in the competition’s 18-year history. The pitch was flat, the boundaries short, the batting merciless. Later in the same game, Australia’s Pat Cummins went for 60. But this was brutal.
It was a sobering return to action for Rajasthan Royals, the franchise Archer had last represented in 2020, when he signed off with a tidy 4–0–19–1 against Kolkata Knight Riders. Indeed, in 35 previous IPL games before the weekend, he had never gone for more than 47. And it was not what his employers were expecting when they forked out more than £1million for him at November’s mega-auction.
It is nearly six years since Archer took international cricket by storm, starring in England’s dramatic World Cup win, then breaching 98mph in the Tests against Australia, when his duel with Steve Smith at Lord’s instantly went down in Ashes folklore.
Yet 2019 remains his personal peak. Increasingly the talk has been of troughs. During the T20 series in India earlier this year, he recorded the two most expensive analyses of his career: one for 60 at Chennai and one for 55 at Mumbai. Then, in the Champions Trophy, he went for 82 against Australia – his most expensive ODI figures.
On his day, Archer can still be a menace: a three-wicket opening spell during that tournament against Afghanistan ought to have led to an England win. And a few days before his Chennai mauling, he took two for 21 at Kolkata.
Jofra Archer etched his name into the IPL history books in an unwanted fashion on Sunday
The England bowler returned the most expensive figures in the competition’s history against Sunrisers Hyderabad
The Archer of today is a far cry from his explosive 2019 heyday after numerous injury setbacks
But his narrative arc has faltered since the winter of 2019-20, when he sent down 42 overs during New Zealand’s only innings in Mount Maunganui. It would be too simplistic to say England, captained by Joe Root, ruined him in that game. Yet there is no avoiding the fact his body, and especially his right elbow, has rebelled so regularly since then he has not played a Test since February 2021.
On current evidence, the idea he can form part of an Ashes-regaining pace cartel this winter looks like hope as much as it does expectation.
TV analysis during last month’s Champions Trophy in Pakistan did not make for happy viewing. A split screen compared Archer’s action before he had surgery in 2022 on a stress fracture of the lower back with his action after it. And the fast bowlers in the commentary box – Dale Steyn and Simon Doull among them – knew which they preferred.
Before the operation, Archer’s body was more upright and side-on, while his wrist was behind the ball, presenting an immaculate seam. Everything was in straight lines. He purred to the crease, encouraging the unhelpful notion that he should be able to bowl even faster, all the time.
It is a perspective he has never quite been able to shake off. But since remodelling his action to mitigate against further injury, his fingers have been coming slightly down the side of the ball, and he has been leaning away a fraction at the point of delivery.
The changes are almost imperceptible to the naked eye, but a fast bowler’s action is finely tuned and therefore can be easily disrupted. As a result of the tweak, he no longer achieves as much away movement. With his stock ball going into the right-hander – and leaving the left-hander – he is more predictable. And even the quickest bowlers can’t afford that.
But Archer last featured in a Test match for England in February 2021 when they faced India
While his pace has stayed more or less constant more troubling is Archer’s brittle confidence
Despite concerns, his pace has remained more or less constant since his debut: he averaged 85.7mph during the 2019 World Cup and 85mph during the Champions Trophy. In fact, his fastest average speed for a tournament or series came during the two white-ball series in India earlier this year: 87.6mph. If anything, the Indians fed off his pace. Even mishits were flying for six.
England believe Archer’s new-found tendency to move it in to the right-handers is part of the modern game’s white-ball philosophy of cramping batsmen for room. They think he will be well served by bowling once more with the red ball, something he has not done in first-class cricket since Sussex played Kent in May 2021 – a week before he had elbow surgery.
For Archer, there is another factor, often overlooked: his brittle confidence. During last summer’s T20 World Cup he admitted his long injury lay-off had made him feel ‘like a burden’. He is sensitive to any talk about his fitness and prefers to shun the limelight.
Next week, he turns 30 – an age when fast bowlers are at the height of their powers. Instead, in the early stages of a year which will define him, there are more questions than answers.
Read our previous article: Cam Ward pro day: How top QB prospect went from a zero-star recruit to the NFL Draft’s potential No. 1 pick