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England’s Jofra Archer to put Smith friendship to one side against Australia
Jofra Archer has said he will put his friendship with Australia’s Steve Smith on hold when England attempt to get their World Cup campaign back into gear at Lord’s on Tuesday.
The shock defeat to Sri Lanka at Headingley last Friday has put England’s hopes of reaching the semi‑finals back in the balance, with victories in two of their final three games against Australia, India and New Zealand likely to be needed to secure their passage to the last four.
The stakes for this latest encounter have been raised further by the lurking presence of the Ashes series that comes after the World Cup. So potential psychological points for the challenges ahead as well as qualification for the latter stages of this tournament will be on offer at Lord’s.
For Archer, the Barbados-born fast bowler who qualified to play for England in March, this will also be an opportunity to stake his own claim for an Ashes place as well as trying to add to the 15 wickets he has already taken in this World Cup.
Smith would be a prize wicket to add to the collection for Archer and he will be helped by the inside knowledge he gained playing under the Australian’s captaincy for Rajasthan Royals in this year’s Indian Premier League.
The pair are, according to Archer, friends. “Yes,” he said. “I’d like to consider he thinks of me the same way as well. He’s a really good guy.”
However, the mood changes when asked how that personal relationship will affect the dynamic between the pair when they face each other at Lord’s. “Cricket is cricket and I guess it’s time to be friends after,” he said. “But until the game is over there will be nothing friendly about it.”
Archer also let slip that Smith had actively avoided facing his 90mph-plus bowling at net sessions during their time as teammates in India.
“To be honest, I didn’t bowl at him much,” he said. “A lot of the guys probably don’t want to face me in the nets. They like the side-arm and the throws.”
Another Rajasthan player in the England all-rounder Ben Stokes also knows Smith well and Archer suggested the pair will formulate plans to get the better of the Australian, who scored a match-winning century during a pre-tournament warm-up match against England in Southampton last month.
“That’s the thing,” said Archer. “When you play with them you pick up on things you won’t normally notice when you’re just playing against them. So hopefully me and Ben, we can get together. We probably know what to do when he’s in.”
Smith and David Warner both received hostile receptions during that warm-up match in Southampton from English fans keen to let the pair know their thoughts on the year-long bans the pair served for ball-tampering during the Cape Town Test against South Africa last year.
The atmosphere at Lord’s is likely to be more civil but England’s players are keen to make an impression in the first major skirmish of this Ashes summer.
“We’re pretty up for it,” said Archer. “They’re second in the table so more than likely they will go through. I think if we could beat them now, if we do have to play them after [in the World Cup] we’ll be OK.”
Archer also shrugged aside questions about the added pressure on England – the tournament hosts and No 1-ranked team –following the Sri Lanka match. “The pressure has been on from the very first game,” he said. “It is the World Cup so there are no easy teams and no easy games as we saw from the last one.
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“ It is a chance to really see where our game is, having probably the three hardest games last. If we do get through we should be OK to pretty much win everything.”
Justin Langer, Australia’s coach, was also keen to stress England’s quality in what appeared a not-very thinly veiled attempt at mind games. “We have seen how they played for four years,” he said. “They are the best team in the world. Just look at their team. Nothing has changed in a week.”
Whether or not Australia will have to face Jason Roy at Lord’s remains to be seen. The England opener will on Monday have a further scan on the hamstring he tore nine days ago but it is understood his recovery is going well and he may yet play.
Related: Sri Lanka and Malinga blow away England in World Cup shock
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