Brendon McCullum lauds 'box office' Jofra Archer, says he will be ready for ‘biggest series of our lives’

England's head coach Brendon McCullum was all praise for Jofra Archer and his four-wicket haul in the third ODI of the three-match series between England and South Africa. Archer was adjudged the Player of the Match award in England's record-shattering 342-run win.

McCullum also shed light on the reason behind easing Archer back into the mix instead of hastening his recovery process. He said that the team management wanted to provide every chance to the pacer to participate in the "biggest series" for England, referring the upcoming Ashes.

"That was an unbelievable spell. It was box-office bowling. [It's] not just his pace, but his skill, his ability to shift it both ways and to test batters with the steep bounce he gets. He's a proper cricketer, hence why we've taken our time with him to make sure that we give him every chance to be in the biggest series of all of our lives," stated McCullum, as quoted by ESPNcricinfo.

The former Kiwi cricketer underscored the management's plan in handling Archer's workload. He concluded by admitting that Archer will be a critical player for England when they play Australia Down Under. 

"We've had a good plan with Jof over the last little while and he's rewarded us for the type of planning that we've had with performances like tonight. He's going to be a huge player when we get to Australia, as a number of others are. But I don't think we'll wrap him up [in cotton wool] per se. We'll just keep working with him on how he's going and work out what's best for him," mentioned McCullum.

Archer was one of the prominent performers for England in the recently-concluded ODI leg of the home series against the Proteas. He picked eight wickets in three matches while conceding runs at an economy rate of only 3.66.