Jofra Archer: England’s brand of cricket remains the same despite T20 loss

Jofra Archer insisted England will not be pressing the panic button despite a new white-ball era under Brendon McCullum starting with a comprehensive T20 defeat against India in Kolkata.

After a lacklustre batting display from England, India withstood a four-over burst from a revved-up Archer to race to their target of 133 with seven wickets and 43 balls to spare at Eden Gardens.

While Archer took two for 21, Tilak Varma top-edged his first delivery agonisingly over Phil Salt and there were other instances of tough catches going down or the ball dropping in front of fielders.

Archer accepted the result might not have been altered had fortune favoured England but the fast bowler believes the message from McCullum will be to simply go again in the second T20 in Chennai on Saturday.

“A lot of balls went up in the air and didn’t go to hand. Probably next time, they all go to hand and they’re 40 for six. I wish we could have caught them.

“Maybe we would have lost anyway, but that would have made us drag it (back) a bit more and they would have won it in the 17th or 18th over. I don’t mind losing, but I want to fight for it.

“We just want the guys to keep their head up. This happens a lot in India, especially in the IPL (Indian Premier League), the batters and bowlers go hard and we were just on the unlucky side of it.

“But nothing changes. Yes (McCullum is the) coach but we still carry on. He just lets us do what we want to do. Nothing changes. The coaches change but the brand of cricket always remains the same.”

But Archer revealed he would receive fortnightly messages from McCullum when he first took the reins of the Test side over two-and-a-half-years ago, perhaps an insight into how highly he values the paceman.

“He didn’t have to, but he did,” Archer said. “I think he was just genuinely checking in. It was nice to finally see him and talk to him in person rather than on the phone.”

The burning question is when Archer will make his red-ball return, with his latest comeback being carefully managed by England and featuring only appearances in limited-overs cricket.

With a home Test series against India this summer followed by next winter’s hotly-anticipated Ashes in Australia, England are expected to remove the training wheels sooner rather than later.

But Archer, who played the last of his 13 Tests in February 2021, has often stressed his focus is on the here and now and he reiterated his immediate priority is on the next four T20s against India.

“I’m fine. I’m all good,” he said. “This is T20 we are dealing with. Let’s just get through this series first and then we can work with that later.”

Archer bowled with vim and vigour on Wednesday night, hurrying Sanju Samson on to a pull then catching the top-edge of Suryakumar Yadav, and came close to snaring Varma before hitting him on the helmet.

He was backed with a few slips and a short-leg as England captain Jos Buttler searched for early wickets after they were bowled out for 132 but Archer thinks he did not get his just rewards.

“I’m never lucky in T20,” he added. “For me, it’s never going to go to short-leg, or leg slip. Although they are nice to see, they are just there for the theatre, to get in the batter’s head, and be aesthetically pleasing. But I’m fine getting my wickets however they come.”