Don't expect any miracles: Jofra Archer

"I've played a lot more red-ball (overall) than I have white-ball. I do think it's my preferred format." © Getty

I'm probably more ready than I've ever been." That was Jofra Archer's response when told about Justin Langer comments of wearing down England's bowlers and getting Archer into his second or third and fourth spell. "I've bowled 50 overs in one game already for Sussex and I'm usually the one bowling the most overs anyway. I think Justin Langer has another thing coming," he added.

England are faced with the Steve Smith conundrum following his Edgbaston heroics in the first Ashes Test last week. Pundits reckon the hosts need to play Archer ahead of anyone else because of his raw pace that they feel will unsettle a stubborn Smith. And Archer's entry and rise in the England team has been stellar. Though he's sampled only in white-ball cricket thus far, many are convinced he needs to be fast-tracked to the longest format, a' la Jasprit Bumrah, and believe he's the go-to man to iron out whatever bowling loopholes England have. But the right-arm pacer playing just one red-ball game in the last 11 months is also a talking point.

"Well, I've played a lot more red-ball (overall) than I have white-ball. I do think it's my preferred format anyway. Red ball isn't really shown on TV so a lot of people won't know. Looking at the scorecard, it doesn't really tell the full story of how a game panned out anyway. It was actually the first format I played in when I started at Sussex," said Archer, whose build-up to the Lord's Test, where he could potentially earn a Test debut, was a Second Eleven Championship game for Sussex where he smashed a hundred to go with a 6 for 27 in the first innings.

"Yeah I was (feeling good)," said Archer. "It was good to get a chance to bat in the middle. Playing in the World Cup for the last six or seven weeks and getting six or 10 balls max, if you're not mentally strong you can actually think that's who you are. I was glad to get in the middle and hit a few and get some wickets as well. I think I ended up going past the number of overs they told me to bowl in the game so I think it was a good practice."

All the talk of having the opportunity to debut at the Home of Cricket where England recently were crowned champions at the World Cup could be poetic, but Archer weighed down the expectations and was quite attuned to reality. "What I would say is don't expect any miracles, firstly! Hopefully, I'm gonna make my debut sooner rather than later and I'll come in and do what I can. I can't work miracles - I'll try to, but I don't think that's how it might pan out. I'll try my best and I can only give my best," he said.

And then there was the inevitable question of what his plan was going to be for Smith. "I think my ideas will be the same as the guys, it's just that the guys haven't been successful. He played really well at Edgbaston, I think had a day out - or days out, but Lord's is a bit different to Edgbaston. Hopefully one can do a bit more coming down the slope and hopefully he gets out for 90 runs less.

"I think the slope did have a hand in some of the dismissals," said Archer of his own experience of playing the longest format at Lord's in the domestic circuit. "If one nips down the slope it's a good ball, if it doesn't nip down the slope it's still a good ball. The margin of error sometimes can be a lot bigger than at most other grounds."