‘He’s looking ready to go’ – Brendon McCullum provides big update on Jofra Archer ahead of Lord’s Test

England’s head coach, Brendon McCullum, revealed that Jofra Archer would be in contention for the third Test in the present five-match series between England and India. For the uninitiated, England went into the recently ended second game with an unchanged XI, despite Archer being on the roster.

Gus Atkinson, along with Archer, will take part in the thrilling red-ball match, which will be contested at Lord’s Cricket Ground in London.

McCullum hinted at a possible rotation of the fast-bowling unit following the workload they faced during the first two matches of the series.

“He will definitely be available for selection. Our seamers have completed two tests, and we have a brief break before heading down to Lord’s. We’ll let the dust settle on this one, but Jofra appears to be fit, strong, and ready to go, and he will be included in the calculations. “It’s extremely exciting,” McCullum was quoted as saying by.

The former New Zealand international was optimistic about premier speedster’s return and said he would only improve his numbers in a sport he last played in February 2021.

“He enjoys being around the gang, and we’re glad to have him. He’s definitely been through his injuries and time away from Test cricket. But we all know what he’s capable of in Test cricket, and we hope that when the opportunity arises for him, he’ll be able to recapture and improve on what he’s done in that format of the game,” he continued.

Atkinson near-confirmed to spearhead at Lord’s

McCullum alluded to Atkinson, who last played in the one-off Test against Zimbabwe, being part of the bowling attack for the upcoming match.

“We need to have a good look at Gus. We’ll just see how the dust settles on this [Test]. The guys had quite a heavy workload. When you chase a bit of leather, you obviously go pretty deep into your spells as well. So, we’ll see how they are, and then we’ll make the decision when we get down the road,” he mentioned further.

England enjoyed a strong start to the series, winning the opener by five wickets. However, they suffered a significant blow when they were defeated by 336 runs in the next match. The Ben Stokes-led team would hope to provide a much stronger performance at the Home of Cricket.