Ashes 2019 | Australia can handle Jofra Archer threat, says Pat Cummins
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While saying that Jimmy Anderson will be a “massive loss” for England in the second Ashes Test, Pat Cummins has stated that Australia are well prepared to deal with Jofra Archer in the second Test. Anderson has been sidelined by a calf injury after he managed to bowl only four overs at Edgbaston.
Anderson pulled up another calf injury after just four overs of bowling that proved catastrophic to England at Edgbaston, with Steve Smith feasting on a resulting four-man attack for centuries in both innings that propelled Australia to a 251-run win. Anderson’s absence resulted in Archer's first foray into Test cricket and he will be making his debut against Australia. However, Pat Cummins has stated that Australia are well prepared to deal with Jofra Archer in the second Test while adding that Anderson will be a “massive loss” for England.
“It’s unfortunate for them that he went down early in the first game; it’s no secret that he is a massive loss,” said Cummins, who last week became the second-fastest Australian to 100 Test wickets as he reached the mark in his 21st outing.
“He’s been their highest wicket-taker and is arguably the best bowler in the last few Ashes series. As soon as he went down I felt like there was a real opportunity in the second innings to try and get some overs into their bowlers and bat well. Luckily we did. Some of the boys have played against Jofra at the World Cup or with him in the IPL or Big Bash League, so he is not an unknown. We’ll do our homework but we’ve all faced him," Cummins said.
Archer is not the only new addition in the England attack, with Jack Leach replacing Moeen Ali after the latter had a disappointing match in Birmingham. The Somerset spinner was an impressive performer in Sri Lanka and in the match against Ireland, coming in as a night watchman, he scored a valuable 92 to help England win the Test. However, Cummins is not so concerned about it.
"It might seem like a big call but Leach had a good game [against Ireland] only a couple of weeks ago. We’ll just keep doing our thing. The good thing is we have a full squad to pick from. The unfortunate guys who had missed out on the bench have done well in the warm-up games. Whoever is the 11 that comes at us doesn’t really bother us too much,” he added.
