Jofra Archer described the atmosphere in the England dressing room as “very welcoming” after making his much-anticipated debut against Ireland in Dublin on Friday. Archer, who only became eligible for England last month, picked up 1 for 40 on his first outing but said he was trying “not to set his heart” on winning a World Cup spot over the next few weeks.
The possibility of Archer forcing his way into the World Cup squad had brought guarded responses from a few of his prospective team-mates, notably David Willey, Mark Wood and Chris Woakes. Archer said that he had since spoken to all three and was not worried about how the situation had been portrayed.
“It’s been very welcoming,” Archer said. “I knew most of the guys before coming here but it’s nice to come into a new team with some people you know. Sometimes the media can get things wrong and misquote people. Since I’ve been here I didn’t feel any malice at all. It’s a really welcoming bunch of lads. I’m happy.
“It’s game by game, I’m not thinking too far ahead. If I do well here it will probably put my case forward. But I’m not focusing on the World Cup spot.”
Archer, 24, initially came to England in 2016 expecting to go through a seven-year process to qualify for England and admitted that he had not envisaged himself being in contention to play at the forthcoming World Cup.
“It’s done now. I’m here,” he said. “It happened a bit quicker than I expected – I had my eyes set on 2023 and to be given the opportunity so early is really exciting. I’m here with a great team at a great time.”
Archer said he had not slept much the night before and conceded to a few nerves in his opening over. He took the new ball alongside Willey, delivering a respectable first spell, before returning later in the innings to crank up the pace and claim his maiden international wicket with a 90mph that knocked out Mark Adair’s off stump.
“I generally don’t sleep too early,” he said. “I probably was thinking about today a bit, but not too much.
“I didn’t really have a chance to think about [the wicket]. The guy was starting to up the ante a bit, so I was just focused on getting him out, [although] obviously I was a bit excited.”
Although Archer was left out of England’s preliminary World Cup 15 when it was announced last month, he now has a T20I against Pakistan on Sunday followed by a five-match ODI series with the same opponents to push himself into contention. The process is out of his hands but he said he would understand the disappointment if he were to take the place of one of the more-senior members of the squad.
“Anyone would think about it. But [all I can do is] just play well here and hope, I guess. I’ll try not to set my heart on it. Obviously the guys have been together a long time and they probably do deserve it so I won’t feel too bad if I’m left out.”
Source: ESPN Crickinfo