Mount Maunganui (New Zealand): England captain Joe Root said rookie fast bowler Jofra Archer had a lot to learn as the tourists slumped to an innings defeat by New Zealand Monday.
A “brutally honest” Root also blasted England’s shot selection in a brittle batting display after his team, after winning the toss, lost by an innings and 65 runs to go 1-0 down in the two-Test series.
Archer, 24, starred in this year’s Ashes, where he took 22 wickets in his debut Test series. But he managed only one scalp at Mount Maunganui — that of BJ Watling for 205.
Root said Archer could take his cue from New Zealand’s Neil Wagner, who took five for 44 in England’s second innings and eight wickets in the match in total.
“He’s burst on to the international scene and he’s done wonderful things for England and he’ll do so many more wonderful things,” Root said of Archer.
“But this is very new to him. He’s got the Kookaburra ball which he’s not bowled with before and he’s never been to this part of the world and you have to perform in a certain way out here.
“He’s got all the attributes that can be very successful and he’s got to learn you’ve got to make sure every spell counts and you’ve got to run in and use that extra pace to your advantage.”
Archer also got a ticking-off for riding a Segway on the field after the toss on Thursday — risking possible injury. Root said Archer wouldn’t make the same mistake again.
“I can’t fault his effort. Putting in the amount he has done this innings shows that he cares and he wants to really put in for this team,” added Root.
“But I think there were certain spells where I think he can just unleash a little bit more and that will come with experience and time.”
England are hoping to sew the seeds for reclaiming the Ashes in Australia in 2021-2022, saying before the match that they were determined to “bat long”, while Archer was expected to show the world what he could do on foreign soil.
In his pre-match remarks, Root insisted, “We’re going to take the team forward” and Test cricket “is a priority”, adding “My game’s in good order” — before making scores of two and 11.
But, from being 242 for four at stumps on day one against New Zealand, England saw a potential 500-plus first innings halted at 353.
New Zealand, in response, went from 127 for four to declare at 615 for nine. With England needing at least 262 to make New Zealand bat again, they reached 121 for four before the last six wickets fell for 76 runs.
“It’s not going to happen overnight,” said Root of England’s reboot under new coach Chris Silverwood.
“You can’t fault the effort of the guys. It’s obvious we want to play in a certain way which is very different to how we’ve had to play in our own conditions over the past couple of years and it’s going to take time.
“We’ve got a couple of new guys in the team, some fresh faces at the start of their careers and they have to learn from these experiences.” Few batsmen distinguished themselves, and England have now failed to reach 400 in 19 overseas innings since the 2017 Boxing Day Test in Melbourne.
“It’s always tough when you play abroad,” Root said. “Bring it all together and we will become more consistent, we will score more runs more frequently and once we’ve seen ourselves do it a couple of times it will be a lot easier to do that consistently,” he added.
AFP