Second act of English cricket’s great hope Jofra Archer starts with a bang | Andy Bull
Fast bower must have wondered if this moment would ever come but he is back and taking Test wickets againHalf-two in the afternoon and it’s slow going at the bars, stalls and stands around the Nursery Ground.The waitresses are chopping lemons and wiping down the counters, one of the two men in the ice-cream truck is having a breather in the front seat and the other is staring out his window into the middle distance.The next drink can wait, so can that trip to the toilets brought on by the last one.Everyone’s attention is fixed on one thing.It has been four years, four months and 17 days, since anyone has seen Jofra Archer bowl in a Test match.
Five, 10 and 24 since his memorable debut against Australia at Lord’s.Archer has been English cricket’s great what-might-have-been.Now he was finally back bowling in a Test match, ready for his second act, and at the ground where he made his name back in 2019 with one of the most famous spells in Ashes cricket.The large part of his achievements in this form of the sport all took place in that one summer.Nothing he has done since, in the handful of Tests he has played afterwards, the scattering of one-day, T20 or IPL games he has appeared in, has come close to it.
Archer at the end of his run is one of the great sights of English sport.Even when he is standing still, idly tossing the ball from one hand to the other, the atmosphere around him is alive with anticipation of the movements he is about to make, the latent threat of his pace, and the ever-present possibility of imminent violence.Ben Stokes is a cricketer who makes things happen.Archer is a cricketer who makes you believe they are about to.Yashasvi Jaiswal was on strike.
They are teammates in the IPL and Archer seemed to have a clear idea of how he wanted to bowl to him.His first ball was good.His second was better.His third was the best of all.It left his hand at 90mph, with a seam that cleaved the air, landed on leg stump and jagged off the pitch, flicked the edge of Jaiswal’s bat and flew through to second slip, where it was caught by Harry Brook.
Archer was off and running before the catch was landed, he went full pelt towards square-leg and sprinted smack bang into the arms of the first teammate he came to.It ended up being Shoaib Bashir, who was playing for Surrey’s Under-18s the last time Archer bowled in Test match cricket.Soon enough everyone else had joined the two of them in the huddle.From the middle of it all Archer broke off to reach one arm over the head of his teammates and point towards the England changing room balcony, in acknowledgment of all the backroom staff who have supported him during the years in between, when he has had three separate stress fractures in his right elbow, a stress fracture in his lower back and injuries to the ligaments in his right hand.He makes bowling fast look so easy, but it has been brutally hard on him.
The celebration seemed to be an expression of his relief,He had spent more than four years working for a 43rd Test wicket,No doubt there have been plenty of moments along the way when he must have wondered if he would play Test cricket again,No doubt there have been moments, too, when he must have wondered whether he even wanted to,Here was his answer.
His next delivery was even quicker, a 93mph that rocked Karun Nair backwards on to his heels as it whizzed through the space where his head had been a split-second earlier.It was the fastest over anyone has bowled in this series.“To bowl quick,” wrote Frank Tyson, who is one of the few men who has known what it is to bowl at Archer’s pace, “is to revel in the glad animal action; to thrill in physical prowess and to enjoy a certain sneaking feeling of superiority over the other mortals who play the game.”Sign up to The SpinSubscribe to our cricket newsletter for our writers' thoughts on the biggest stories and a review of the week’s actionafter newsletter promotionYou can see a similar thing in the way Archer grins at the batsman.The team, too, seemed to be lifted by knowing that for once in this series the most hostile bowler on either side was playing for them.
They have been outmatched for long stretches when they have been up against the world’s best fast bowler,All of a sudden Chris Woakes, who had conceded 13 runs in his first over, seemed to be making the ball whip and zip off the pitch, and he beat Nair’s outside edge twice in the next over, as the batsman struggled to readjust to a very different sort of problems Woakes posed,It got harder,Of course it did,The pitch was dead, the ball was soft and the day was hot.
Archer ran through second, and third, spells from the Pavilion and Nursery Ends without getting a sniff of another wicket, a reminder, if anyone needed it, that he is not going to fix Test cricket for England all by himself.But you guess that he can stand to wait another day for his next victim after spending so long on his last one.
Australian supermarket chicken nuggets taste test: from ‘mushy’ to ‘super good’
Sarah Ayoub wrangles 10 kids under 10, plus older siblings and their parents, to find chicken nuggets with the best crispiness, even texture and taste of real chickenGet our weekend culture and lifestyle emailIf you value our independent journalism, we hope you’ll consider supporting us todayWhat makes a good chicken nugget? Ahead of this taste test, I put a call-out on Instagram asking this question. Dozens of messages essentially said the same thing: real chicken flavour, evenly textured meat and a crisp exterior.Though a handful suggested I make my own, most understood the assignment: the appeal of a chicken nugget lies not in Nara Smith-ing it but in its convenience, especially during school holiday chaos. To that end, on the first day of winter break, I rounded up good friends, compliant siblings (including a 34-year-old nugget connoisseur-sister who still orders kids’ meals) and their respective children to rate frozen supermarket offerings for their overall appeal, texture and flavour.Nuggets were cooked in an oven according to their packet instructions, but the consensus was that almost all the nuggets needed longer cook times
How to turn broad bean pods into a refreshing summer soup – recipe | Waste not
Broad bean pods are one of the most under-appreciated edible scraps, and I can’t believe I haven’t written about them here since way back in 2018, when I deep-fried them in spices. They’re wonderfully fragrant, and yield the essence of the broad bean’s familiar flavour without having to use the bean itself.This vibrant green soup is a quick, thrifty and deeply nourishing way to use an otherwise unwanted and unused ingredient. The pods offer a surprising depth of flavour, meaning you can reserve the beans themselves for another meal. You can also use finely minced broad bean pods in stews, risottos and sauces, both for a hidden boost of fibre and for that beloved and familiar green flavour
Yasmin Khan’s recipes for aubergine kuku and fruit and nut granola bars
I am obsessed with these sweet treats: soft, sticky, packed with dried fruit, nuts and seeds, and sweetened with banana and honey, these irresistible granola bars are perfect for when you’re craving something sweet but still want something relatively healthy; they also work well as a light breakfast with a mug of hot tea or coffee. Kuku, meanwhile, is one of the bedrocks of Iranian cuisine, and is the Persian word for these dense, filled frittatas that are often served as a sandwich filling with sliced tomato and crunchy, salty pickles.These keep in an airtight container for about three days, and tend to go softer and chewier after 24 hours, so they are great for making ahead. I use a 16cm-square baking tin.Prep 5 min Cook 45 min Makes 6-8 bars175g jumbo rolled oats 125g dried apricots, roughly chopped50g pistachios1 tbsp pumpkin seeds 1 tbsp sunflower seeds 1 tbsp sesame seeds 1 tbsp milled flax seeds 1 tsp ground cinnamon Salt 75g coconut oil, or butter65g soft dark brown sugar60g tahini3 tbsp honey, or maple syrup 1 ripe banana, peeled and mashed1 tsp vanilla extractHeat the oven to 180C (160C fan)/350F/gas 4, and line a small baking tin with greaseproof paper
RecipeTin Eats cook upset her beef wellington recipe ‘entangled’ in Erin Patterson murder case
Nagi Maehashi, the cook behind RecipeTin Eats, says it is “upsetting” to have become “entangled in a tragic situation” after Erin Patterson told her triple murder trial she used the beef wellington recipe for the fateful lunch.In a post to Instagram on Tuesday, Maehashi requested that journalists of Australia “please stop calling and emailing and texting and DM’ing me about the Erin Patterson case”.“It is of course upsetting to learn that one of my recipes – possibly the one I’ve spent more hours perfecting than any other – something I created to bring joy and happiness, is entangled in a tragic situation,” she wrote on Instagram yesterday.“Other than that, I have nothing to say and I won’t be talking to anyone.“Thank you for respecting my privacy
How to make the best veggie burgers | Kitchen aide
My veggie burgers are so often underwhelming, or they simply fall apart. Where am I going wrong?Beth, Newark“Veggie burgers are often lacking in everything that’s good about food,” says Melissa Hemsley, author of Real Healthy, and for her, that means texture, flavour and satisfaction. “They also tend not to have those key flavour highs – the fat, the salt – that you’re after from a homemade version.”For Lukas Volger, author of Veggie Burgers Every Which Way, texture is by far the complaint he hears most often: “The patty is too moist, and glops out of the other side of the bun when you bite into it.” Veggie burgers often behave like this, Volger says, because vegetables contain water, so you’ll either need to cook the veg in advance or add something to the mix to soak it up, whether that’s breadcrumbs or grains
José Pizarro’s recipe for courgette and almond gazpacho
Gazpacho has been part of Spanish kitchens for centuries. Long before tomatoes arrived from the Americas, it was made with bread, garlic, olive oil and almonds, which have always been part of our food culture. It began as field food, crushed by hand in mortars and eaten by workers under the sun with nothing but stale bread and whatever else they had to hand alongside. No blenders, no chill time, just instinct and hunger. This version, with courgette and basil, goes back to that idea: take what’s around you and make something good out of it
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