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England set to unleash Archer against friendly enemy of New Zealand


Across the Tasman from Australia, where their captain, Tim Paine, has recently accused England players of using stories about David Warner’s Ashes verbals last summer to boost book sales, a Test series gets under way between two sides who could seldom get on better.

England and New Zealand have enjoyed strong bonds for a good while now – long before their shared experience of the World Cup final’s freakish conclusion – and so there is little fear that the first Test to be played at Bay Oval in Mount Maunganui on Wednesday evening will turn into a sledging soap opera.

Indeed you only had to watch the two sets of players mingle at practice on Tuesday as they lined up before a powhiri – the traditional Maori welcoming ceremony – to see a bunch of old mates catching up. Among them were Joe Root and Kane Williamson, opposing captains but also former colleagues at Yorkshire.

“I’m a huge admirer,” said Root. “I’ve seen the way Kane holds himself and his team, and the way he plays the game is very admirable. He had a big impact on a lot of the [Yorkshire] players. He’s a fine batter as well. I’m looking forward to a good series against a good set of lads.”

Come ball one, however, Root insists there will be the same intensity one would expect of any sent down at international level. When asked if personal friendships may see punches pulled, he replied: “We’re playing Test cricket. That in itself trumps everything else. I can’t see that being an issue.”

While a refreshed England batting line-up gets its first outing with Root back at No 4, Dom Sibley the debutant opener and the highly-rated Ollie Pope returning at No 6, this is, of course, also a first tour with Jofra Archer spearheading the attack. When a player has the ability to bowl sustained spells in excess of 90mph, thus transcending conditions and the often disobliging Kookaburra ball, it is hard to ignore him.

The trick, as far as Root is concerned, is convincing Archer himself that this is his role on the road. “Knowing Jofra, he wants to see the ball moving sideways,” the captain said. “But one thing he underestimates is his own talent sometimes – that pace through the air, over a period, can be a quite a big skill in its own. I think he needs to understand that.

“Once you get the ball in his hand, a bit like Jimmy [Anderson], it can be very hard to get it off him. It’s a great trait to have and over this next period it is trying to manage that sensibly: to get the most out of him in the moment but also the longevity of a young man’s career. You want him to bowl as many spells as possible over 90mph, not one a series or once in a blue moon.”

With Anderson missing until the South Africa tour in December, it is Archer who will once again share the new ball with Stuart Broad. Root billed Broad as the “leader of the attack” but one who must also offer control. Chris Silverwood, England’s new head coach, has been reminding the players there will be periods when they have to sit in.

New Zealand are not second in the Test rankings by chance; they have a recent record of big totals. Three of their batsman – Williamson, Tom Latham and Henry Nicholls – have scored four centuries each in the past two years.

Williamson, with 20 Test centuries, an average of 52 and back from a period of rest, is clearly the kingpin. Much like Steve Smith and his broad bat during the Ashes series, England must find a way past the right-hander’s defence. “You always look at the best players and think how are you going to get them out,” Root said. “A lot of the time it marries up with trying to get them early. It doesn’t matter how good a player you are, you’ve got to start and get into your innings.

“We’ve got to make it difficult not just for him, but for the rest of their batters. The surfaces we’ve seen during the two warm-up games, they can get quite flat. It’s important to try to utilise the first 10 or 20 balls against a new batsman.”

Archer is not the only quick on people’s lips here either. There was local chatter about the reliable Tim Southee making make way so that Lockie Ferguson, the whippy right-armer who regularly topped 90mph during an impressive World Cup campaign, may come in. But Williamson is holding off on handing him a debut for now.

“[Ferguson] is very exciting,” said Trent Boult, New Zealand’s main man with the new ball. “It’s great to have him here with the red ball. We’ve got a very good record at home – we’ve lost one in the last 15 Tests. The batsmen are putting runs on the board and we’re very clear how we want to bowl sides out. We’ve got everything covered – from guys bowling 150kph [93mph] to swinging the ball around in the air.”

Ferguson will have to wait until Hamilton but Boult is right: these ingredients are what make for a mouthwatering prospect over the next two Tests. It may be friendly fire, but it will be fire nonetheless.



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