Teammate praises Jofra Archer’s preparation for the Ashes and lauds his resilience after multiple injury setbacks since bursting onto the Test scene against Australia in 2019
Jofra Archer has found his happy place, with the star England paceman brimming with confidence heading into the Ashes series opener against Australia in Perth, starting Friday.
England are still yet to finalise their pace attack for the first Test, but Archer is firming for selection after making it through the team’s three-day warm-up match unscathed.
Archer sent down a total of 17.3 overs across the match, returning figures of 1-51 and 0-15 on the batter-friendly wicket at Lilac Hill.
The 30-year-old made his Test debut in 2019, but he didn’t play a single Test from late February in 2021 until early July 2025 due to injuries.
The fact Archer was able to make it through two Tests against India in July and back up for ODI and T20 duties bodes well for his chances of earning selection for the Ashes opener at Optus Stadium.
Archer’s devastating spell in his Test debut against Steve Smith at Lord’s highlighted just what a devastating talent he is.
Smith was floored after being struck by one of Archer’s thunderbolts, and he was later ruled out for the rest of the match with concussion.
England paceman Brydon Carse is confident Archer can have a major impact in this summer’s Ashes.
“Jofra’s been playing now just over two years injury free, touch wood,” Carse said.
“He had those couple of Tests at the back end of the summer where he was bowling quickly and in good rhythm.
“He’s really confident going into the series, I think he’s in a happy place where his body’s at and his cricket.
“It’s just so good to have him fully fit and around the group.
“He’s obviously got that X-factor, and he’s shown that around the world. So it’s very exciting that he’s in our bowling line-up.”
England’s other express paceman – Mark Wood – appears unlikely to be selected for the first Test after making it through just eight overs in the practice match.
Wood was sent off for precautionary scans after feeling tightness in his left hamstring following his eighth over on the opening day.
Although the scans cleared Wood of injury, the fact he couldn’t bowl for an extended period in his first match since undergoing knee surgery in March means he faces an uphill battle to win selection.
Carse praised Wood’s fighting spirit.
“He’s got a huge amount of resilience,” Carse said.
“You look back at some of the setbacks that he’s had over his career, to keep coming out and keep going through the processes to get back out on the field, it’s very exciting, and it shows the sort of character that he has.”
Australia’s pace stocks have taken a battering, with skipper Pat Cummins (back) and Josh Hazlewood (hamstring) both to miss the first Test.
Scott Boland had already been earmarked to replace Cummins, with Brendan Doggett set to make his Test debut in Perth to fill the void left by Hazlewood.
2025-26 NRMA Insurance Men’s Ashes
First Test: November 21-25, Perth Stadium, 1:20pm AEDT
Second Test: December 4-8, The Gabba, Brisbane (D/N), 3pm AEDT
Third Test: December 17-21: Adelaide Oval, 10:30am AEDT
Fourth Test: December 26-30: MCG, Melbourne, 10:30am AEDT
Fifth Test: January 4-8: SCG, Sydney, 10:30am AEDT
Australia squad: (First Test only): Steve Smith (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Brendan Doggett, Cameron Green, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Michael Neser, Mitchell Starc, Jake Weatherald, Beau Webster
England squad: Ben Stokes (c), Harry Brook (vc), Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, Shoaib Bashir, Jacob Bethell, Brydon Carse, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Will Jacks, Ollie Pope, Matthew Potts, Joe Root, Jamie Smith (wk), Josh Tongue, Mark Wood
