Since England’s Ashes capitulation on Australian shores two summers ago, ‘Bazball’ has been the biggest buzzword in world cricket.
England captain Ben Stokes has promised that his side’s audacious brand of cricket, characterised by fast-scoring and obscure field positions, will be served up during the upcoming Ashes series in the UK.
When the first ball of the series is bowled at Edgbaston in seven weeks’ time, if England are batting, their opener Zak Crawley might try and hit it for six.
The seismic shift in England’s approach has generated unprecedented anticipation ahead of a series against a world-class Australian team.
But cricket is not just about scoring runs. You can’t win a Test – generally speaking – without taking 20 wickets.
Four years ago, Australia retained the Ashes but left England feeling underwhelmed after the series finished at 2-2.
Jofra Archer reacts after taking a wicket in the 2019 Ashes. Credit: AP
There is a decent chance England would have lost their first Ashes series on home soil since 2001 had it not been for one man: Jofra Archer.
No England bowler, with a minimum of 20 wickets, has a better Test bowling average (20.27) at home against Australia since Jim Laker, whose last game was in 1956.
Will Archer feature this time around? That’s the million-dollar question.
“England would love to have him, particularly for two or three Tests,” said former Australian Test captain Mark Taylor. “He’d be there to rip in and do what he did in those Test matches in 2019, particularly at Lord’s. I’m just not sure they’re going to have him.”
Fitness, not form, is the issue when it comes to England’s strike weapon.
All indications suggest if Archer is fit, he will be picked alongside fellow pace bowlers Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad.
However, the big issue for Archer is that he has not played a first-class match in almost two years. His last Test was against India in February 2021.
In January, Archer declared himself “80 per cent fit” after setbacks from elbow and back stress fractures.
“If I can play one [Ashes] game this summer, I’ll be happy,” Archer said during England’s one-day tour of Bangladesh last month. “If I play more than one, that’s just a bonus.”
Archer reportedly left the Indian Premier League this month to undergo elbow surgery in Belgium.
He has made infrequent IPL appearances recently – he did send down a delivery at 145km/h for the Mumbai Indians on the weekend – but there are questions over his ability to get through long spells in red-ball cricket.
It is clearly a sensitive topic for the 28-year-old, who snared 22 wickets at 20.27 from four Tests in the 2019 series.
“Putting out an article without knowing the facts and without my consent is crazy,” Archer tweeted to his 680,000 followers after reports of his secret surgery were made public.
It begs the question: if Archer is fit, what kind of bowler will he be? Can he have the same impact for England this time?
“Secretly you’re always hoping that the super quick blokes don’t play,” Taylor said. “[Extreme fast bowling] is everyone’s kryptonite. It unsettles your footwork, it plays on your mind as much as anything. It is great to have.
“Jofra Archer playing is one thing but Jofra Archer playing at 100 per cent is another thing. That’s what England need. He hasn’t played three, four or five-day cricket for two years. That will make it very difficult for him to play a lot of five-day cricket come June and July.”
Much like Andrew Flintoff in 2005, Archer was the heart and soul of England’s bowling unit in 2019 as he captivated fans from both countries.
His spell at Lord’s, in the second Test, will live long in the memory.
When Archer hit Steve Smith in the arm, it sent a clear message to the Australian dressing room.
When a brutal bouncer cannoned into Smith’s neck, which ultimately forced the Australian star to miss the next Test, it changed the complexion of the series.
Archer’s bouncer that felled Marnus Labuschagne was also a defining moment in the fast bowler’s stellar debut. He finished with match figures of 5-91. It is worth noting Archer has never dismissed Smith.
“Archer is the guy who really changed the last Ashes,” said former Australian fast bowler Geoff Lawson.
“Test cricketers don’t get intimidated too much by pace because they’re wearing so much protective equipment. But because Archer doesn’t change his action too much, you can’t read it. Our guys weren’t reading it and he was clocking people.
“When you see really good players struggling to have time to play that sort of bowling, you think ‘wow, that’s something special’.
England coach Brendan McCullum and captain Ben Stokes. Credit: Getty
“I’m pretty sure the Poms will be wanting him but if he’s had elbow surgery I’m not sure how that’s going to go. That could be dicey if he’s got tendonitis. There are famous cases there of people who haven’t recovered.”
Earlier this month Stokes revealed that local curators had been told to prepare “fast, flat wickets” to facilitate the home side’s desire to score quickly. But does ordering flat pitches nullify the impact of England’s pace bowlers against a solid Australian top order?
Anderson and Broad have made a career out of hitting the seam on greener English pitches.
“One wonders did the people making requests for those pitches ask the bowlers? They might not have been too happy about it,” Lawson said. “Anderson has been a genius but at 40, if he is going to have some long days on flat tracks, you don’t know how that will go down. Same with Broad.
“If we bat well on flat wickets, it’s going to be tough for England. It’s a great mystery.”
Taylor believes pitches with pace and bounce will suit Archer but has reservations about his ability to maintain top-end speeds.
“He has to be running in and bowling quick or he’s no more value than any other England bowler,” Taylor said.
“The Jofra Archer we saw in Manchester in the fourth Test, in what turned out to be a deciding Test match, was disappointing [Archer took 0-97 in the first innings as Steve Smith made 211].
“Stokes will use him in short, sharp spells. He doesn’t have the work behind him that I’m sure he and England would love.
“I don’t think he’s absolutely vital to them. I’m sure they’d love to have him though.”
Lawson added: “Coming off his last injury, he seemed to come into his stride really quickly. Sometimes it takes you a fair while to get back into Test match rhythm.”
Fellow England fast bowler Mark Wood is confident Archer will play a big role in the Ashes.
“He’s a champion player and I’m sure he’ll come back and be a champion again,” Wood told Sky this week.
As for Bazball and England’s all-out assault, with or without Archer, Lawson has his reservations.
“If they fail at the first Test, will they continue to play Bazball? I doubt it. They’ll have to find a way to win another way,” Lawson said. “We’ve got quality. You can’t play Bazball against our guys. You can try and you might get away with it for a short period of time but you’re not going to get away with it for a long period of time.
“I don’t think it’s rocket science. Like T20, the best place to bowl with the new ball is still the top of off.
“It’s so hard to belt that bowling. I don’t think you need a complicated plan to counteract it.”
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