England is keeping the door open for the inclusion of two key players, Ben Stokes and Jofra Archer, in their ODI World Cup squad for the upcoming tournament in India. Stokes withdrew from the 50-over format last year due to the physical toll of international cricket on his body, while Archer has been dealing with a recurring stress fracture in his elbow.
The national selectors for the men’s team will reveal a preliminary 18-player squad this Tuesday. Matthew Mott, the coach for white-ball cricket, remains optimistic about the availability of both Stokes and Archer, who are known for performing well in high-pressure situations. Although Archer has resumed bowling in practice after being sidelined during the Ashes series, Stokes’ situation is less clear. Mott is even open to having Stokes play as a specialist batsman if needed, considering his recent concerns with a knee injury.
Interestingly, England seems to be experiencing a trend of players reversing their decisions about retirement. Moeen Ali, a highly influential all-rounder, is also making a temporary return to Test cricket at Stokes’ request. It appears that he will receive a similar request as Stokes did.
Matthew Mott said
“Jos [Buttler] will probably lead the way on that communication, but Ben’s pretty straight with all of us. We will see if he’s keen,” Mott told Daily Mail. “There has not been a clear direction on what he’s going to do yet, but we are still hopeful. I’ve always said his bowling would be a bonus, but just look at what he brings with the bat, even in the field.
“Watching him throughout the whole Ashes series, he had such a great presence. He’s done it for years when it comes to performing in one-day cricket and so he’s an invaluable commodity.”
There is a growing optimism surrounding Archer’s potential participation in the India trip despite his recent injury setback. Despite his challenges, the 28-year-old fast bowler displayed remarkable form earlier this year in his comeback from injury. He achieved his personal best ODI figures of 6/40 against South Africa in only his second match back, demonstrating no signs of being out of form. Moreover, he maintained a near-peak level of pace during the series in Bangladesh. Alongside fellow fast bowler Mark Wood, Archer’s presence will provide England with the crucial element of high-speed bowling. This will be particularly important in overcoming opposing batsmen on pitches that are expected to be favorable to batting in India.
“It would be a big ask for him to play every game, so we would have to target specific ones, but we are big on ball speed for India, we feel like that’s a really important asset for us to have out there and it will be good to see Mark Wood, who had such an impact in the Ashes, do the same with the white ball.
“The thing about pace like that is it’s not just the immediate impact of unsettling or making opponents feel uncomfortable, it’s the whole aura that it creates around the team. Look at Wood’s impact at the back end of the Ashes. Everyone else on that field fed off his energy and what he brought.
“If you can upset top orders and deny the big hundred-makers, that goes a really long way to winning games over there. If you look at the way India play, they set their stall out to make sure people are ‘in’ at the 40-over mark and therefore able to score 100-plus during the last 10 – and that is very hard to stop,” Mott concluded.
Stay updated with all the cricketing action, follow Cricadium on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram
