MELBOURNE, Australia, CMC – Barbadian fast bowling star Jofra Archer has been snapped up by Hobart Hurricanes for the seventh edition of Australia’s Big Bash League which bowls off next month.
The 22-year-old has been called up to replace England’s Tom Curran who was drafted into the Ashes squad following injury to fellow speedster Steven Finn.
Archer, a former Barbados Under-19, made his name for English County Sussex in the recent first class season, claiming 61 wickets at 25 runs apiece and scoring 638 runs at an average of 45.
“It was a big honour to be asked, firstly. Some of the best players in the world play in the tournament and it’s a great opportunity for myself to keep learning about the game and to get better,” said Archer.
“I’ve watched the Big Bash every year so far and had a couple of team mates and friends play in the competition – every year it continues to get better.”
Archer’s rise to prominence has been a fairy-tale one. Brought in at the latter stages of the 2016 season for his first class debut, he snatched 23 wickets in six matches to secure a contract extension for the following season.
The right-armer then led the Sussex attack brilliantly, taking 84 wickets and scoring 764 runs across all three competitions, to emerge as the club’s Player-of-the-Year.
Cricket Tasmania chief executive, Nick Cummins, said there was already excitement at the Hurricanes surrounding Archer’s arrival.
“We’re excited to see what Jofra can bring to our side and we think our bowling stocks are looking really healthy with he and Tymal Mills playing for us this season,” Cummins noted.
Archer, currently representing Khulna Titans in the Bangladesh Premier League, will join the likes of West Indies stars Kieron Pollard, Carlos Brathwaite, Andre Russell and Sunil Narine who are all down to contest the December 19 to February 4, 2018 tournament.
