Michael Holding, the former West Indian fast bowler believes England’s overuse of Jofra Archer is equivalent to “abuse”. According to him Archers 22 overs out of the 75 overs bowled in the final day of second Ashes Test at Lord’s was “unsustainable”.
Holding on Archer
Jofra Archer who made his presence felt on his debut Test at Lord’s proved to be one of the finest weapons for England to draw the match. While everyone in the cricket world is overwhelmed by his emergence, Holding came up with some other theory and angle. He clearly stated that England overused Archer in the second Test of Ashes. He explained that Archer bowled a third of all the overs bowled and that is generally delivered by a spinner. He explained to The Independent that this might harm Archer’s speed in the long run.“If you keep bowling him like this you will lose the 96mph delivery. He’ll still bowl fast, 90mph, but do you want to lose the express pace? It is not just about this match or the next, but next year and the one after that.”
Archer should be cared
Holding went on to compare Archer to South Africa’s Kagiso Rabada. The 24-year old has bowled more than 7,000 overs in Test cricket – more than any other fast bowler his age – and has sustained back trouble. This has not only impacted his form but also caused him to lessen the speed. The West Indian great termed this as absolute ‘abuse’. He said, “When I was bowling, we had three other quicks just as fast. We could share the burden.”
Holding believes that England needs to be careful with this newcomer. They need to use him cautiously otherwise they may lose his ability of such pace and accuracy soon. “England need to be very careful with Archer. He is obviously very fit, as you could see with his recovery from the side strain. Like me, he is tall, not big and muscular. He relies on rhythm and looks very relaxed running in. All that is in his favour but it is not sustainable for England to use him like this in every match.”
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