Jofra Archer and the magic in his 'effortless pace'

For a moment, visualise a fast bowler with a 15-paced approach bowling at blinding speed. The mind just doesn't seem to accept that a quick bowler can achieve such a perfect symmetry with a short run-up.  

Jofra Chioke Archer. The Barbados-born, England cricketer is one of those very few quick bowlers who can generate scorching pace from a relatively short run-up. 'Easy pace'. Not exactly the words that are synonymous with the kind of sheer effort of a fast bowler pounding deliveries at 90mph. 

Archer can befuddle the batsman with his deceptive pace, and for the dismissal to be captured via YouTube videos and memes. Just ask Daniel Bell-Drummond of Kent, who was cleaned up by prodigious swing at pace in 2017. The way the ball flew after shattering Soumya Sarkar's timber, and smashed into the boundary hoardings in the 2019 World Cup. Or for the matter his epoch-making spell at Steven Smith at Lord's in the 2019 Ashes. 

In the second innings of the Southampton Test against the West Indies, Archer once again turned his art into a fast bowling clinic. He smashed John Campbell's foot with a swinging yorker and repeatedly troubled him in the one-square-foot window outside the off-stump. Archer then picked up his first wicket of the match when he rattled Kraigg Brathwaite's timber with the inswinger. Shamarh Brooks, who looked in good touch in the first dig, was done in by another one that shaped back in just enough to prise him out lbw. 

However, he reserved his best for Roston Chase. Five years ago, Archer had dislodged Chase lbw in a Sussex Premier League game in Cuckfield. This contest was different, taking place in the middle of an engrossing and hard-fought Test match. 

After surviving a few close shaves, Jermaine Blackwood and Chase were slowly but steadily taking the game away from England. Ben Stokes, the England captain, was looking for a spark of inspiration from somewhere and he turned to Archer. 

In the 36th over of the innings, Archer bowled from very close to the stumps, and with a flick of the wrist got the delivery to violently kick off the surface. He also followed Chase all the way through with a slight inward angle. Meanwhile, Chase hopped in the crease, as he looked to fend it away, only to glove it to the 'keeper. 

Archer, who has made a habit of surprising the best in the business with his deceptive bumpers, had won another battle.  This was the exact moment where precision was married with talent to produce a wicket. He also troubled Shane Dowrich with sharp lifters and won a decision against him, but the 'keeper-batsman got it overturned by taking the review. 

So what is it that makes Archer's bouncer such a formidable threat for the batsman? A batsman anticipates and the brain picks out the best possible way to counter the delivery. Subsequently, after receiving the message, the body moves into a position to play the shot. However, with Archer's short ball, most of the batsmen seem to struggle to pick it early enough. 

One of the factors that seems to work for Archer is his ability to bowl fast with a languid run-up. It is quite difficult for the batsman to gauge that the opponent can generate high pace from 13-15 paces. He also has a whippy action. 

It can also be observed that whether Archer bowls the yorker, bouncer, back of a length delivery, knuckle ball, he is mostly upright at the crease. Usually, when a fast bowler is about to deliver the short ball, his head seems to drop. 

"He stays upright at the crease regardless of what he's bowling – yorker, length ball, bouncer, whatever. Most bowlers, when they are about to deliver a bouncer, have a drop in the head as they approach the stumps but he doesn't do that. So, as a batsman, you have no idea what to expect," Ravi Bopara told Sky Sports.

Sometimes, it is difficult to understand the subtleties of sport while watching it on a TV,  but there were moments during the course of Archer's incisive spells in Southampton where the potential to bowl fast had been machined into a thoroughbred fast bowler. 

It is also true that it is hard to imagine a thoroughbred fast bowler with a relatively short run-up and front knee that doesn't lift much clocking 90mph. So how is Archer able to bowl fast with a 13-paced approach? Biomechanists and fast bowling coaches point to the braced front leg, his knee drive, hip-rotation, whippy arm, hip/shoulder separation, wrist snap and a few other factors. 

In simple terms, Archer is gift-wrapped with the required skills to bowl fast. As Patrick Waithe, his stepfather told Sunday Mirror that, “One day, he just clicked. I was stood facing him in the nets and in four consecutive balls, he clean bowled me."

Archer has played just eight Tests and is still learning his craft. Last year, in New Zealand, he struggled to make inroads on slow tracks and with a Kookaburra ball in hand. However, he comes across as a quick-learner and looks set to spearhead England's pace attack in the future.