The Ashes: Jofra Archer rocks Aussies with six-for… and warns he wasn’t even bowling flat out
JOFRA ARCHER ripped the Aussies apart with a six-wicket Headingley haul and warned: I don’t need to bowl at 90mph to get you out.
England pace ace Archer, who got lost on his way to the ground, deliberately bowled slower than on his Lord’s Test debut but still sent the tourists spinning to 179 all out on the first day of the Third Test.
Amazingly, this was Archer’s first red-ball match at Headingley — and he turned up 20 minutes late because he had been stuck in the city’s one-way system.
He smiled: “There was a one-way street so I ended up having to park in the car park behind the rugby field.
“But I’m pretty relaxed. I actually don’t think I need to bowl in the warm-up at all.”
Archer added: “I don’t need to run in and bowl 90mph every spell to get wickets.
“I believe if I put the ball in a good area then I will take wickets if I’m bowling at 87-88mph.
“This wasn’t a wicket where you had to run in and bowl 90mph. It had a bit of swing and nip and you needed to put it in the right areas.
“There will be times in Test matches you have to focus on hitting your length and there will be times to ramp it up.”
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Archer’s figures of 6-45 were the best by an English bowler in an Ashes match at Headingley since Bob Willis’ famous 8-43 in 1981.
And his maiden Test five-fer caps an astonishing start to his international career, having taken five wickets at Lord’s and bowling the Super Over in England’s World Cup win.
Archer, whose side are 1-0 down in the series, admitted: “From the moment I’ve put the badge on, they’ve been my happiest days of cricket so far and hopefully there will be plenty more ahead.”
