NZ vs ENG | Jofra Archer looking forward to the Kookaburra challenge

England pacer Jofra Archer has been one of the stories of 2019 as he was fast-tracked into the England team and then ended up being the man who defended the Super Over to win England their first-ever 50-over World Cup at Lords'. Naturally, he was given an Ashes call-up and was extremely impressive in the Test matches that he played with his sheer pace and accuracy.

Although being very young in his Test career, the 24-year-old is already one of the best weapons in the armoury of the English pace attack. Archer has only bowled with the Dukes ball used in England and is new to the concept of the Kookaburra ball and thus he believes that being inventive is the need of the hour.

"I'd never bowled with the red Kookaburra before, but I knew it was going to be tough and so it proved," he wrote for the Daily Mail.

"People say it has a smaller seam than the Dukes ball we use in England but I'm not sure it has a seam at all. It isn't pronounced on any part of the ball. It doesn't hold its shine either and gets very old, very fast," Archer added.

New Zealand will host England for a two-match Test series with the first Test being at Mount Maunganui. Archer feels that the conditions there will be helpful for the bowlers and they will have to be at the best to exploit the help available. Archer does possess the variations needed in case the pitch flattens out and thus he is one of the X-factors in this England bowling attack.

"We've heard conditions at Mount Maunganui might be more helpful and there could be a bit more pace, so we'll have to be the judge of that. But that may be something to work with," he wrote.

"When there's nothing on offer from the conditions, you have to try whatever you can. You have to be inventive over here, which is one of the things we've spoken about as a group," Archer added.

Archer versus Steve Smith was the competition to watch out for in the Ashes and similarly Archer will again be the focal point but this time against the likes of Kane Williamson. Archer believes that Williamson is a fine batsman and is looking forward to the challenge that lies ahead.

"I didn't want to be bowling to Steve Smith again any time soon after what happened last summer," Archer said.

"But New Zealand have Kane Williamson, who isn't going to give you much either. We're probably going to have to try a bit of everything against him, although he plays the short ball pretty well," he concluded