‘Making up for what he lost, Archer’s time is now’

Unusually, Jofra Archer plays cricket wearing a watch.

The reason for his need to know the time when he’s on the field for England is unclear.

Then again, when your job is to hurtle a ball at a batter, giving them a fraction of a second to react, and you have waited more than four years for the opportunity to do it again in Test cricket, time is important.

When Archer last played a Test for England, Shoaib Bashir was eight months short of his 18th birthday, Joe Biden had just been sworn in as US President and the UK was in a Covid lockdown.

Life moved on without him after that third Test against India in February 2021. England played 53 Archerless matches.

The ‘void’ Ashes, the birth of Bazball. Retirements of Stuart Broad and James Anderson, memorable wins in Rawalpindi and Hyderabad. The Jonny Bairstow stumping. The beginning and end of Ollie Robinson’s Test career.

It has been a monumental collective effort to get Archer back in England whites, but only the man himself will know everything it has taken. The setbacks and heartbreak, lonely days in the gym and solo net sessions. One-dayers, T20s and Barbados club cricket.

Gradually, a fanciful dream became a reality. A return to red-ball cricket with Sussex and a place in the England squad for the second Test against India, all building to the third Test at Lord’s.

When Archer was confirmed in the England XI the day before the game began, he prepared by bowling spin – right and left-arm – in the nets.

A rare Ben Stokes choice to bat first meant a wait to get the ball in hand. On a boiling Friday, Archer looked genuinely disappointed when his batting was cut short by the genius of Jasprit Bumrah.

In the change of innings, Archer loosened up then stripped to the waist to change his shirt. It is hard to think of Fred Trueman doing the same on the Lord’s outfield, though Trueman did not have a body like Archer’s.

His time came at 14:43. Second over, after Yashasvi Jaiswal had taken 13 runs off Chris Woakes’ first.

The crowd cheered as Archer marked out his run. He rubbed his hands in the dirt as his name was announced and the cheers grew louder. The Pavilion End from where he roasted Steve Smith in 2019.

Same cruise to the crease, almost hiding behind the umpire. Loose limbs and gold chain. Snap into a smooth action. Then fireworks.

Movement away from left-hander Jaiswal at 87.5mph. Play and miss. A frisson through the stands.

Jaiswal, baby face and flashing blade, has tormented Stokes’ side with runs from Vizag to Headingley. Only Don Bradman averages more against England. Archer needed just three deliveries to see him off.

More pace, 90mph of it. More movement. A poke and an edge. Time stood still until the ball came to rest in the hands of Harry Brook.

Archer wheeled away like Marco Tardelli in the 1982 World Cup final, roaring to the sky to release 1,596 days of frustration. Mobbed by his team-mates, he pointed to the England dressing room and his mum Joelle in the crowd.

Genuine life-affirming joy.

Karun Nair was greeted by three slips, a gully, a short leg and a leg gully, the most popular man in north London.

Every ball Archer sent down was an event, each delivery pregnant with danger. The overs of Woakes, the man with an unmatched record on this ground, were an irrelevance. Like two different sports being played at once.

Archer conceded only four runs from his first 21 deliveries before Nair got him through mid-off and to fine leg. Words exchanged. Theatre.

Stokes moved towards Archer at the end of his fourth over. The paceman held up a finger to demand one more. Stokes knew not to argue.

By the end of his first spell, Archer averaged 89.5mph, the third-quickest opening burst by an England bowler on record and comfortably faster than what he has been bowling in white-ball cricket. He touched 93.3mph and sent down the four fastest overs of the series so far.

Five overs do not make a man, yet this was a demonstration of what England have been missing, the bowler Archer is and what he could become.

If there was any doubt whether he could get back to his heights of six years ago, they were answered in 30 deliveries of fire and brimstone. It was exhilarating.

There is the question of whether Archer can back it up, spell after spell, day after day. If his body can stand up to the rigours of Test cricket.

And, whether it was because of the sluggish conditions or the effort he put into the first spell, Archer did not have the same impact in a second spell of two overs or third of three. In both he failed to induce a play and miss or an edge.

Still, there is no doubt Archer brings an X-factor to England’s bowling. Few to have pulled on the Three Lions have his range of skills. Extreme pace, hostility, movement in the air and off the seam, plus the tricks of the white-ball generation.

His entrance to this series has added an extra dimension to a flagging England attack. There is the tantalising prospect of a partnership with Mark Wood, one that has only been united once before in Test cricket. It could be as soon as the fifth Test at The Oval. Imagine the possibilities in Australia.

Maybe it never again gets better than this for Archer in Test cricket. Maybe that is not important. An opportunity that looked gone forever has returned.

Jofra Archer can make up for what he has lost. His time is now.