In the end it took an act of God to stop Jofra Archer. A thick bank of black cloud blew over the Grand Stand at a quarter-past-seven and in the twilight of Sunday night the umpires rightly decided that it was all of a sudden so dark that the Australian batsmen could not safely face him any more, if they ever could safely face him at all. Archer had already hit Marnus Labuschagne, Tim Paine and Matthew Wade earlier in the day, and that was in bright sunlight. So Archer slapped on his hat, turned his back from the crease, then strolled off to field at mid-on, despondent. Force majeure. Who knew there was a superior force out there?
Archer bowled 44 overs in this match and by the time they were over he had proved himself the most lethal fast bowler in the world. On Sunday he cracked open the Australian second innings, had David Warner caught at slip, Usman Khawaja caught behind and, later in the day, removed Paine too. But it was not just the wickets. Archer has hit 19 batsmen in the body and head in the short time he has been playing international cricket. Right now he is averaging a strike every 10 overs or so. His bowling is a test not just for Australia’s batsman but for the way the game handles these blows, too.
Written by Andy Bull at Lord’s
This news first appeared on https://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2019/aug/18/brutal-jofra-archer-cricket-ashes-blows-concussion-england under the title “Brutal Jofra Archer leaves cricket reeling from his Ashes blows”. Bolchha Nepal is not responsible or affiliated towards the opinion expressed in this news article.
