Jofra Archer bowled more overs than any of his England teammates in 2019... now remind me about that lack of effort

SAM MORSHEAD: If there is any good to come out of Jofra Archer’s enforced lay-off with a stress fracture of his elbow it will surely be the eyes that open to the effort the England seamer put into his debut year in the international game

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Maybe now the blind will see.

If there is any good to come out of Jofra Archer’s enforced lay-off with a stress fracture of his elbow - diagnosed this week following his issues in South Africa - it will surely be the eyes that open to the effort the England seamer put into his debut year in the international game.

It has been quite puzzling, and equally as infuriating, to have witnessed the baseless yet often forthright criticism of Archer since his extraordinary arrival in the national squad last summer.

Archer bowled 400.5 overs for England in 2019, more than any of his teammates - a haul made all the more remarkable when you consider he only made his debut in May.

It is a headline-grabbing statistic, the kind which leads us all to leap to conclusions.

As a result, much will be talked about over the coming days and weeks, as Archer recuperates, about excess workload. There will be accusations of mismanagement directed at the England Test captain, Joe Root, and his backroom team. There will be complaints that warning signs were ignored, and reminders of the England quicks who have suffered similar problems over the past decade.

Ultimately, though, Archer is simply a fast bowler with an injury that requires time to heal. Stress fractures do generally come as a result of overuse or accelerated workload, but how often do you hear of such injuries of the elbow among seamers?

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Jofra Archer has been diagnosed with a low-grade stress fracture of his right elbow

Typically it is a spinal issue that causes discomfort to the quicks - the hyperextension and rotation of hips and back in the delivery stride and repetitive strain on the vertebrae - rather than the arm, where problems are more commonly soft tissue-related and incurred by batsmen and fielders.

So to say outright that Archer has fallen victim to being flogged by his captain may not be wholly true.

After all, there were three other international fast bowlers who delivered more overs in 2019 - Pat Cummins, Kagiso Rabada and Trent Boult - with Cummins working his way through an astonishing 607.3 over the course of the calendar year (including 465.4 in the months after Archer’s debut).

Stuart Broad, meanwhile, bowled 90.2 more than his England colleague across all major competitions in the 12-month period - Broad managed 582.4 for Nottinghamshire, the MCC and his country compared to Archer’s 492 for England, Hobart Hurricanes, Rajasthan Royals and Sussex Sharks. 

Broad’s body, of course, has almost an extra decade’s strength and conditioning training to fall back on - the veteran quick, let’s not forget, had injury issues of his own early in his career which required a remodelled action to help fix - and he is a markedly different operator to Archer. 

MOST OVERS BY ENGLAND SEAMERS (ALL FORMATS) BY CALENDAR YEAR
2014 - Jimmy Anderson (409)
2015 - Stuart Broad (540.4)
2016 - Stuart Broad (479.4)
2017 - Jimmy Anderson (426)
2018 - Jimmy Anderson (391.4)
2019 - Jofra Archer (400.5)

But still, while Archer’s output has been considerable, it is not off the charts. 

Recent history supports that claim.

Between 2014 and 2017, for example, at least one English seamer topped 400 overs in the calendar year in all formats - Jimmy Anderson in 2014, Broad and Anderson in 2015, Broad and Chris Woakes in 2016, and Anderson in 2017.

In 2015, Broad managed 540.4 in England colours, following that with 479.4 the following year. 

So has Archer really been burned out? Ultimately, there is enough contrary evidence to muddy the waters.

What is unarguable, however, is that Archer got through an almighty pile of work in 2019, that he did so with explosive impact, and that without him England’s year would likely have turned out very differently indeed.

That he had to withstand such a barrage of criticism for a perceived lack of effort as the year dragged to a close in New Zealand and South Africa, therefore, was as curious as it was disturbing.

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Archer will miss the IPL and the tour of Sri Lanka

There was no substance to that criticism, which fell apart at the slightest hint of scrutiny, just lazy stereotyping by those who think Archer does not behave as they might expect an England cricketer to behave. Or look like an England cricketer should look.

It will be interesting to see, when the analysis of England’s bowling workload is presented in the wake of this stress fracture diagnosis, whether Archer’s detractors will acknowledge their perceptions were founded not on the basis of fact. 

In just seven months, he contributed the seventh most overs by an English pace bowler in a calendar year since 2013. Oh, and 55 wickets at little more than 25s. 

The idea that he did this simply by going through the motions, by not caring, is maddeningly deranged.

By their very nature, fast bowlers are moody beasts who struggle to hide their feelings. England’s two most prolific are prime examples - Anderson can sulk with the best, and you wouldn’t be unduly worried if Broad parked himself on the opposite side of the poker table - yet criticism of either has rarely focused on the way they hold themselves.

And why should it? How is that relevant? 

As answers are sought for Archer’s ongoing absence, those questions are equally as important.

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