England white-ball head coach Matthew Mott expects “box office” fast bowler Jofra Archer will be back to his best in time for this year’s Ashes and Cricket World Cup.
Archer returned for England against South Africa in January after spending just under two years out of action with elbow and back problems.
The 27-year-old managed just one wicket for 81 runs in his first game back but, after being rested for the second ODI, he took 6-40 in the final match of England’s 2-1 series loss.
With five wickets to his name across two appearances on England’s tour of Bangladesh, Mott is pleased with Archer’s progress but believes there is still more to come.
“He’s a box office player,” Mott said. “He’s fitted back into the group beautifully and it’s an incredible effort for a fast bowler to be out for that long and come back and play as he has.
“He would admit that he’s not fully firing on all cylinders. You can just see he’s ticking all the boxes to get back to his best.
“He just seems to be really slowly, strategically making sure he’s doing it right and ticking over and come the Ashes, come the World Cup, I’m sure you’ll see him back to his best.”
Wednesday will mark 100 days until the start of England’s Ashes series with Australia, while the World Cup gets under way four months later in India.
Mott was again asked whether Ben Stokes will compete at the World Cup, with the all-rounder recently suggesting he may consider reversing his decision to end his 50-over international career.
“I’m still in touch with him but the issue about when he wants to play, we don’t need to know for a while,” Mott said.
“The worst thing we could do is try to put pressure on him early to make a decision. We’ll just see how his body’s holding up and how he’s feeling physically and mentally.”
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