On Tuesday, the English selectors put an to all the speculations by including Jofra Archer in their World Cup squad. England had not named Archer in the provisional squad which they had announced last month. However, they had decided to include him in the squad for ODIs against Ireland and Pakistan and his performance as good enough to find a place for him in the World Cup squad.
It was initially thought that he would have to wait for 2022 to play his first World Cup, but someone’s with Archer’s caliber was just too much to resist for England. With the mega event likely to witness high-scoring games, his express pace and death over bowling is bound to make things easier for England. The Barbados allrounder constantly bowls at over 90mph and is also capable of doing good damage with the bat. His electric fielding is just another cherry on the cake.
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Perhaps this is the reason why England selectors took the risk of dropping David Willey, who has been an integral part of the ODI team in the last four years. Meanwhile, along with Willey, Joe Denly and Alex Hales also lost their places. Liam Dawson replaced Denly while James Vince came in for Hales who failed his second drug test.
With Archer making it to the World Cup squad, the franchises he has been involved in were seen got involved in a fine banter. It all started when Archer’s IPL franchise, Rajasthan Royals (RR) took to Twitter to call him ‘our pace machine’ and congratulate him, writing:
“HE’S IN!!!!! Our pace machine is heading to the @icc #CWC19! 🙌🏾 Congratulations, @JofraArcher!! #HallaBol ”
HE’S IN!!!!! Our pace machine is heading to the @icc #CWC19! 🙌🏾
Congratulations, @JofraArcher!! #HallaBol pic.twitter.com/felilPK9y8
— Rajasthan Royals (@rajasthanroyals) May 21, 2019
Archer’s English county Sussex, however, was not amused with Royals’ tweet and posted a sarcastic reply, writing: “‘Your’ pace machine…? 🤔😅”
‘Your’ pace machine…? 🤔😅
— Sussex Cricket (@SussexCCC) May 21, 2019
As if it was not enough, Hobart Hurricanes, Archer’s Big Bash League (BBL) franchise, also chipped in with their own reply as a laughing out loud emoji.
😂
— Hobart Hurricanes (@HurricanesBBL) May 21, 2019
Archer then finally decided to interrupt to calm things down, as he tweeted, “Play nicely guys”.
Play nicely guys 🤦🏾♂️
— Jofra Archer (@JofraArcher) May 21, 2019