How Jofra Archer can bring death bowling back to life... fiery paceman is the man to produce for England at the business end

The answer to England’s death bowling question has been hiding in plain sight these past few days: Jofra Archer’s half-hour net session at the Kensington Oval a reminder that their best finisher with the ball is still on the books.

Either side of Archer’s return to training alongside his international team-mates, England lost matches partly due to an inability to close things out.

First, Sam Curran was sent downwind so many times in Antigua that he ended up with the worst figures by an Englishman in 53 years of one-day internationals.

Then, late on Saturday night, Gus Atkinson was reintroduced to the attack with West Indies requiring 33 from 24 deliveries, relinquishing that position of strength as 24 runs cascaded from an over in which he struggled to counter both Romario Shepherd’s muscular hitting and the effects of dew on the ball.

World-class death bowlers are a rare breed. Beyond Australian World Cup winner Mitchell Starc, Pakistan’s Shaheen Shah Afridi, Jasprit Bumrah, of India, and New Zealander Trent Boult few readily come to mind.

But in Archer, England unquestionably possess one of their own. Which, when coupled with recent displays by others, shows you why they have gambled on awarding a two-year contract to a player with such a chequered injury past. The first target is for him to be something like his 2019 best for their Twenty20 world title defence here in the Caribbean in six months’ time.

Earlier this year, he provided evidence of his business-end ability during final spells of one-day internationals, finishing with 2.1-1-5-3 in an England win over South Africa in Kimberley, following up with 3-0-7-2 to restrict Bangladesh in Mirpur and then taking three wickets in 10 balls in the series finale.

Archer has every attribute you would want at the end of a limited-overs match. Fast bowlers blessed with 90mph pace become even more dangerous when their repertoire includes a range of slower balls, as batters cannot set themselves.

Equally, he has a dangerous bouncer to stop them rocking forward and an ability to hit the blockhole at will.

In his absence, England have turned to alternatives with mixed success. Curran prospered in last year’s T20 World Cup success in spite of his lack of physical attributes, trading on his mental ones instead and cannily making opponents hit to Australia’s long square boundaries.

Up against the rope-clearing ability of the Windies and a strong crosswind here, though, he looked anything but player-of-the-tournament material.

However, England coach Matthew Mott denied England have a ‘death’ problem, and suggested the recent practitioners will get further chances going forward.

‘We’ve got some really good options there,’ he said, following the 2-1 series defeat. ‘You look at the guys that are getting an opportunity, they haven’t had a lot of opportunity in this format yet, but I think they will be better for the experience.

‘If you put yourself in those situations often enough, every now and then you don’t come off. (Sam) hasn’t missed too often at the death for us, more probably in T20. But he’s that type of bowler that wants the ball in his hand at the back end there. And when you’ve got guys who want to do that, they’ll come out on top more often than they miss.’

England have moved on from 35-year-old Chris Jordan, their second highest T20 wicket-taker, but there has been a recall for Tymal Mills for a five-match series that will familiarise them with the conditions they will encounter next June.

Reece Topley, another left-armer, is an alternative over the next fortnight, although he tarnished otherwise excellent form in Barbados last year when conceding a combined 32 off overs 17 and 19 in the decider of a series that saw a record 96 sixes hit. It could be a case of damage limitation again in a clash of the only two teams to have been T20 world champions twice.

Despite their recent white-ball demise, including the ignominy of failing to qualify for the 50-over World Cup, West Indies have beaten England and India at home since the start of 2022, either side of a series win in South Africa, and welcome back a raft of franchise stars such as Nicholas Pooran, Jason Holder, Andre Russell and Rovman Powell.

Meanwhile, England have been bolstered by the arrival of senior men Moeen Ali, Adil Rashid and Chris Woakes ahead of tomorrow’s opening fixture.