NEW DELHI: Matthew Mott, England's white-ball coach, has disclosed that the team is prepared to take a calculated risk with Jofra Archer's fitness for the upcoming ICC Men's Cricket World Cup in India by meticulously managing his workload during the tournament.
Archer's injury struggles trace back to early 2020 when a stress fracture sidelined him for the initial part of that year. In early 2021, he underwent surgery due to another injury suffered at home. Additionally, a stress-related back injury in May 2022 kept him out of action for the entirety of that year.
His return to international cricket took place earlier this year, featuring in seven matches (four ODIs and three T20Is) against South Africa and Bangladesh. He displayed glimpses of his prowess, notably achieving his best ODI figures (6/40) in just his second match back against South Africa.
However, the 28-year-old encountered yet another obstacle as his injury problems resurfaced. This led to his absence from both the Ashes 2023 series and the Indian Premier League 2023.
Amidst his ongoing injury concerns, Mott indicated that chances remain ideal of his return to the mega tournament.
"There is a high chance that we will take a risk on a proven performer [like Archer] that has done it on the world stage. We are planning for him to be available. Obviously, a lot of things have to go his way and it will be a tight timeline but with players like that you are going to give them every opportunity to prove their fitness, and so we will keep an open mind," Mott said as quoted by ICC.
"It would be a big ask for him to play every game, so we would have to target specific ones, but we are big on ball speed for India, we feel like that’s a really important asset for us to have out there and it will be good to see Mark Wood, who had such an impact in the Ashes, do the same with the white ball," Mott added.
England will kick off their World Cup campaign against New Zealand on October5 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad in what will be a rematch of the 2019 WC Final.
(With ANI inputs)
