LONDON – England fast bowler Jofra Archer
has told his Australian Indian Premier League teammate Steve Smith there will
be “nothing friendly” when the teams meet in the World Cup on Tuesday.
Archer, together with England colleagues
Jos Buttler and Ben Stokes, played in the same Rajasthan Royals side as Smith
during this year’s IPL.
But the England trio and Smith will be on
opposite sides for the rest of the season, starting at Lord’s this week – a
fixture that takes place ahead of an Ashes series.
Tuesday’s game has added significance for
England after a surprise loss to Sri Lanka left them with little wiggle room in
their quest to reach the semi-finals following an earlier surprise defeat to
Pakistan.
Asked if he thought of Smith as a friend,
Archer said Sunday: “Yes, and I’d like to think he considers me the same way as
well.
“He’s a really good guy. But cricket is
cricket and I guess it’s time to be friends after. Until the game is over,
there will be nothing friendly about it.”
Smith and fellow Australia batsman David
Warner have already received plenty of predictable crowd taunts following their
returns from year-long ball-tampering bans.
But they have shrugged off the jeers, with
Warner in particular finding his best form, with two centuries so far.
Archer hopes his rapid pace and some inside
knowledge could prove useful at Lord’s, even though he playfully suggested
Smith had not been keen to face him in the nets during their time at Rajasthan.
“To be honest, I didn’t bowl at him much,”
said Archer.
“A lot of the guys probably don’t want to
face me or (West Indies quick) Oshane Thomas in the nets. They like the
side-arm and the throw downs.
“But when you play with them you pick up on
things you won’t normally notice when you’re just playing against them.”
“So hopefully me and Ben can get together,
I think we might bowl together at some point as well. We probably know what to
do when he’s in.”
Barbados-born Archer only qualified for
England in March, meaning Tuesday will be the first time he has played against
Australia in a competitive international.
“Just from watching the Ashes and stuff I
know it is a pretty intense game between them,” he said.
“I’m not too sure if it will affect me
coming in without having experienced it before. It could be an advantage, me
not being part of what happened before.”
Opening batsman Jason Roy was absent from
training on Sunday, suggesting he may not recover in time from a torn hamstring
to play against Australia but paceman Liam Plunkett did take part after a
recent virus.