England head coach Brendon McCullum has backed pace spearhead Jofra Archer to play a decisive role in the upcoming Ashes series in Australia. He also hinted that young batter Jacob Bethell could be in contention for a place in the XI for the opening Test in Perth after his stunning hundred against South Africa.
Archer, who ripped through the Proteas with a brilliant spell of 4 for 10 in Southampton, earned high praise from McCullum.
“That was an unbelievable spell. It was box-office bowling… [It’s] not just his pace, but his skill, his ability to shift it both ways and to test batters with the steep bounce he gets. He’s a proper cricketer, hence why we’ve taken our time with him to make sure that we give him every chance to be in the biggest series of all of our lives,” McCullum said, as quoted by ESPNcricinfo.
The coach further added, “We’ve had a good plan with Jofover the last little while and he’s rewarded us… He’s going to be a huge player when we get to Australia.”
McCullum was equally effusive in his praise for 21-year-old Bethell, who smashed 110 off 82 balls against South Africa.
“We’ve said about Jacob since we introduced him that he’sgot a huge future in front of him. He’s very quickly taken to international cricket, and things have come really quickly for him as well,” McCullum said.
“He’s going to have some life: 21 years of age, and being able to play like he does… I want to celebrate the fact that his first ever professional hundred has been scored in the England jumper at the age of 21.”
Looking ahead to the Ashes, McCullum also provided positive updates on England captain Ben Stokes and fast bowler Mark Wood.
“Stokesy will be training his arse off… a fit, firing and motivated Ben Stokes is going to give us every chance,” he said.
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