England remain cautious over Jofra Archer’s workload for ODI series

England team management is not willing to take any sort of risk with Jofra Archer, given his history of injuries. He featured in the first T20I of the series against Australia, in which, the 29-year-old picked up two wickets for 31 runs but wasn’t part of the playing XI in the second game in Cardiff. The third game was called off due to rain and Archer once again got a break.

The trend may continue in the five-match ODI series, slated to begin on September 19, in Trent Bridge. Notably, Archer featured in England’s every game in the T20 World Cup 2024 and to manage his workload, he decided to skip the second half of the T20 Blast group stage. He was managed carefully during The Hundred as Archer has played only a handful of matches in the recent past.

He will also not feature in all the five ODIs against Australia. White-ball captain Jos Buttler, who will miss the series due to a calf injury, confirmed that Archer’s workload will be managed throughout the series, and indicated that he can miss the majority part as the intensity and the number of overs are much higher in the ODI format than in T20Is. The 34-year-old added that the goal is to make him available for Test cricket soon and the team has a plan set for the same.

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“Jofra will have to be managed throughout the series. He's played a really good stint now of T20 cricket, but obviously you can only bowl four overs in there. There's a jump in intensity getting loads up to taking full part in an ODI - and of course, as an England fan, to push those loads up hopefully to get back into the Test arena as well,” Buttler told Sky Sports on Sunday.

We know what we're doing with him: Marcus Trescothick

England’s interim head coach Marcus Trescothick stated that Archer is aware of the plan that is set for him and he’s comfortable with it. He added that the team management is trying to see the bigger picture and everyone including the coaches, physios, directors and others are involved in helping Archer get fitter.

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“He knows the plan. It's discussed long in advance of picking the team on each day. We know what we're doing with him, and where we're going. He's comfortable: he knows what he's doing. That's a bigger structure, in terms of what we're trying to do with Jofra. That's an agreed plan between the coaches, directors, physios and all the different people. We'll still be managing him [in the ODIs],” Trescothick said.