By News18
Former captain Michael Vaughan has warned England not to expect too much from Jofra Archer too soon if he is selected for the upcoming Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy Test against India at Lord鈥檚. Vaughan highlighted that the team currently views Archer as the solution to their bowling issues in the series.
Archer is poised for a return to Test cricket after four years, as England plans to revamp their fast-bowling line-up following India鈥檚 dominant batting performance at Edgbaston. Archer has played 13 Tests for England, taking 42 wickets at an average of 31.04.
鈥淚 can understand, I have a real concern about Jofra playing next week, I really do. I can鈥檛 see how his body is going to be able to cope with a five day match on the back of that one day in the field. But I can understand why England are wrapping him in cotton wool because he is that X-Factor and he has got that ability.
鈥淲e all go back to that spell that he bowled to Steve Smith at Lord鈥檚. It was just up there with the great, great spells in Test match cricket. But after that spell, what has Jofra done in Test match cricket? So we are kind of looking at Jofra as if he is the saviour to everything. We have got to be very, very careful on the player and the human being that we don鈥檛 expect too much too soon,鈥 Vaughan said on BBC Test Match Special.
Former England cricketer Mark Butcher also believes playing Archer at Lord鈥檚 is a significant risk. 鈥淭he issue is, with all of these injuries and the amount of time that Jofra has been out of the game, you have no idea how he is going to react to a full day in the field 鈥 never mind three of them!鈥
鈥淓ngland have fielded on all four days of this Test match so far. You add that to that face that even when England are batting well, they don鈥檛 bat for very long, so before you know it the bowlers are back out there again,鈥 Butcher remarked on Sky Sports鈥 broadcast.
Who Can England Drop In Next Test?
England鈥檚 off-spinner Shoaib Bashir has taken wickets but conceded many runs. With Jacob Bethell, a batter who can also bowl some spin, in reserve, Butcher feels replacing a specialist spinner with a part-time option is not justifiable.
鈥淚 think Bashir is getting better all the time. The amount of bad balls 鈥 rank drag-down deliveries, full tosses 鈥 he has almost wiped them out. He has also shown good command of drop and drift, gets plenty of revs on the ball but he just hasn鈥檛 had the conditions. If England had wanted a finished article, somebody that can bat down at No 8 and can be a proper reliable spin bowler, then Liam Dawson would have played 50 Test matches, but for whatever reason he has not figured.鈥
鈥淚 also don鈥檛 think you should be replacing a young spin bowler who has just gone to 50 Test wickets with one that is a part-time spin bowler and a top-order batter. That is not the answer at all. England have been correct under Ben Stokes to want a specialist spin bowler in any line-up, for any conditions. Going for a bit of Jacob Bethell, a bit of Joe Root and that will do us鈥 it won鈥檛. Bethell is a discussion for another time, in terms of your top-order batting, but he鈥檚 not the answer as a spin bowler,鈥 Butcher concluded.