Jofra Archer "frothing" to make England return as coach outlines "general plan"

25 January 2023 , 09:25

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Jofra Archer is set to make his long-awaited England return (Image: Philip Brown/Popperfoto/Popperfoto via Getty Images)

White-ball coach Matthew Mott says Jofra Archer is "absolutely frothing" to make his first England appearance in almost two years.

Archer last featured for England in March 2021 and has been beset by a variety of injury problems since. However, after returning to action with five games for MI Cape Town in the SA20, he is set to make his England return in the upcoming ODI series against South Africa.

And Mott, who coached England to T20 World Cup glory last year, cannot wait to have Archer in his side. "Having watched him from a distance, I think he's one of the most exciting things to have happened in cricket for the last decade," he said.

"It will be great to have him. He's full throttle, fast and brings such energy. He is one of those guys that if you are there sitting in the pub and he’s bowling, you're watching.

"That's a big thing to have. Everyone here will get a lift around bowlers like him, those with extreme pace gives everyone that little bit of extra confidence. He's spent a lot of time out and I know he's absolutely frothing to play."

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Now that he is back, England are desperate not to overwork Archer in a huge year that involves both a home Ashes series and a 50-over World Cup. As a result, Mott is keenly aware the 27-year-old's workload will need to be carefully managed.

England white-ball coach Matthew Mott is excited to have Archer in his ranks (Alex Davidson/Getty Images)

"The best thing I can say is that we have a general plan of what it might look like," Mott explained. "We're probably not going to make that public at this stage.

We will work through it with him, see how his body is coping. I definitely think he is a high priority and he will be managed as well as possible. We are really cognisant of how much players are playing.

"It's not even just the physical load, it's the mental load that we need to be really careful about. When we see little red flags come up, we act really decisively and try to ease that burden and stress."

Matthew Cooper