Eoin Morgan looking to Jofra Archer to answer England's powerplay bowling issues

A poor record in the first six overs is a major hurdle the team need to clear to ensure they can add a second white-ball world title

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When Jofra Archer bowled the concluding delivery of the 2019 World Cup final, what followed meant it became the most important he would ever produce in white-ball cricket for England. But few expected it to be the last.

Thanks to injury and a desire to manage his body, the 25-year-old hasn't been involved in either limited-overs format for his country since, and only twice at any level, for county Sussex. For a player at the peak of his powers, it is a remarkable streak that has lasted nearly 14 months.

Having helped England win one World Cup, he returns with a key role to play in winning the next one. Set against a ferocious batting line-up and an able spin battery is an issue in the new ball department.

England have dismissed just three opposition batsman in the last 36 powerplay overs. Furthermore, they left out their most proficient bowler during that period in David Willey, who has returned to Yorkshire after refusing a reserve berth in the bio-bubble.

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Archer appears ready to take on that challenge but like every England captain going forward, Eoin Morgan will be managing expectations from the outset.

"It is great to have him back," said Morgan. "He is obviously one of our match-winners. To have another one in your team is a huge asset. 

"We need to manage the level of expectation of what he produces throughout this series. He has played a lot during the summer and is very excited.

"But as we saw at Old Trafford at the beginning of the summer guys take time to get into their rhythm. The level of expectation will be high but not without reason."

Ed Smith had suggested that Willey's omission for both legs of Australia's white-ball tour was a reflection of the strength in depth available to England. While Archer, Sam Curran, and Mark Wood are back for both codes, Chris Woakes resumes duties in the 50-over team.

^{David Willey took eight wickets at 18.50 in the Ireland ODI series but is now back with his county}

But Morgan is more positive over the future of Willey, who has 83 powerplay wickets in his entire T20 career. And as well he might be after he was unceremoniously dumped on the eve of last year's World Cup having been a key part of the squad for the preceding four years.

"It is an area that we're trying to improve on," the skipper said of England's new-ball record. "Dave has been one of our best powerplay bowlers because he has that ability to take wickets.

"His omission from the Pakistan T20s wasn't performance-based. We know exactly what he can do. We wanted to look at Saqib Mahmood as much as we could to try and find out more about him and give him more opportunity to see where his role might fit in. 

"But David comes into contention if you're talking about your strongest squad. Ideally, we'd like to have a left-arm option down the line preparing for the World Cup campaign."

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