Shropshire Star

England hopeful Jofra Archer ‘made for big stage’, says Chris Jordan

Jofra Archer will not qualify to play for England until 2022 at the earliest.

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Chris Jordan has promised his protege Jofra Archer will be worth the wait if he goes on to fulfil his ambition of playing for England.

Jordan’s fellow Barbados-born paceman is currently one of the darlings of the domestic Twenty20 circuit, reaching the final of Australia’s Big Bash with Hobart Hurricanes and earning a bumper £800,000 contract with Indian Premier League franchise Rajasthan Royals.

He owes much to Jordan, whose invitation to try out for Sussex set him on his present path, and wants to follow in his footsteps by qualifying for England – a process that will take until 2022 at the earliest.

For the West Indies to allow one talented all-round star to slip their net and flourish at Hove might be considered unlucky. Two is verging on careless.

But, having been overlooked by the Caribbean selectors for the 2014 Under-19 World Cup, Archer’s decision appears to have been made.

And while Jordan attempts not to feed the hype around his 22-year-old team-mate, he cannot hide his own excitement.

“He was made for the big stage,” Jordan said. “He’s so hungry for it. The sky is the limit for him. Is he worth the wait? Definitely. I just don’t want too much expectation to go on him.

“That comes with the price-tags and whatnot and, at present, he’s doing a brilliant job in terms of handling it.”

With such a long wait ahead of him before potentially pulling on the Three Lions, there has been speculation Archer might be tempted to give up on the project – abandoning residency stipulations in favour of travelling the world in pursuit of lucrative T20 deals.

Jordan, for one, finds that idea fanciful.

“He has the desire,” the seamer said. “You can ask him. He wants to play in all three formats for England and he enjoys the longer form.

“He’s a talented player and anyone would want him to play for them. But, as he’s said on many occasions, he wants to play for England. It just stops there.

“By the time he is able to play international cricket, he’ll be hardened and know his game even better. He can come on the scene and flourish straightaway.”

Jordan also has a bold prediction for the next chapter of his friend’s swift rise to prominence: his emergence as an authentic batsman having already made his mark with the ball and as an electric fielder.

“He can bat as well. Eventually I could see him in the top six,” he said.

“He’s been batting nine and 10 for Sussex all last year, he’s probably averaged 43 and got about 750 runs (638 at 45.57 in the Specsavers County Championship).

“He was batting in difficult situations, running out of partners and stuff like that but he’s showed good technique against the moving ball, he can play fast bowling and he can play spin.

“He’s still constantly improving every day.”

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