Jos Buttler has revealed his delight at Jofra Archer's return to ODI cricket on Friday with a promise that he will only get better.
Archer will play just his second match under Buttler as skipper following a match against Pakistan in 2019 before the World Cup. And the T20 World Cup winning skipper is visibly excited to have another X-Factor bowler in his armoury as preparations begin for their title defence in India at the end of the year.
“It's great to have Jofra back, fit and playing cricket again,” said Buttler. “I speak on behalf of everyone that he's such an exciting guy to have back on the field. As an England captain, being able to have him in your squad and in your team is brilliant.
“He's only just coming back to competitive cricket, this will be his first international game for a long time so there's always going to be a level of expectation on Jofra because we all know what he's capable of.
“But I'm sure he's just going to get better and better as he comes back and gets back to performing at such a high level. The intensity is different and he's had some significant injuries so it would be naive to think it wouldn't take him a little bit of time to get up to 100 per cent.
“It's just fantastic to see him fit, back playing again and we know he's just going to get better and better as time goes on.”
Buttler insists he and his players are ready despite only joining up as a squad two days before the first match, and the fact so many have been playing in the SA20 should help that process.
He has fully settled into the role as white ball skipper following Eoin Morgan's retirement last summer with the T20 World Cup win in Australia a huge moment.
But the loss of Morgan and Ben Stokes has opened the door for some new faces to try and force their way into contention for the next major tournament in India and that jockeying for position starts this week.
“I absolutely feel ready,” he added. “It's great guys are coming here having been playing cricket.
“We're all here now and getting together for one training session before the series but it's where cricket's at now. We know exactly what we're about as an England team, we're all excited to pull on the England shirt again and look forward to a really tough series against South Africa.
“We have a World Cup nine months away now and we don't have loads of games before that. They're all really vital games to give guys chances to try and nail down a place in the XI or 15 for the World Cup.
“There's two big names in Morgan and Stokes who are not around any more so they are big holes to fill and that's exciting for guys to put their hand up and try and stake a claim for those spots.”
