Barbados-born England fast bowler Jofra Archer is expected to play for local club, Wildey when the Barbados Cricket Association (BCA) Twenty20 Cup tournament opens on Sunday.

Archer and former West Indies white-ball captain Carlos Brathwaite are expected to be part of the Wildey line-up when they face Police in the opening round of matches on home soil at the Samuel Jackman Prescod Institute of Technology ground.

The 28-year-old made a surprise appearance for his relegation-threatened alma mater, Foundation School in the BCA Division 1 championship last December at the same time England were on a white-ball tour of the Caribbean, much to the chagrin of England & Wales Cricket Board officials.

England managing director Rob Key said on Friday that Archer will not play Tests this summer when Ben Stokes’ side face West Indies and Sri Lanka, but he will hopefully be ready for the ICC Men’s Twenty20 World Cup in June in the Caribbean and the United States.

“The whole plan with Jofra is he’s going to play white-ball cricket for this summer and going into the winter,” Key told Sky Sports.

“Then hopefully next summer, when we play India and then onto the Ashes, we get him back for Test cricket. It’s a slow process to get him back for all forms.”

Key said Archer is being eased back into action after he struggled with stress fractures in his elbow, but the fast bowler was a part of a pre-season trip with English County side Sussex last month to India and bowled with fire.

“Jofra has been out with Sussex in India for pre-season and bowled quickly out there, he bowled really well,” Key added.

“He has now gone back to the Caribbean where he’s going to play a bit of club cricket, all about getting himself ready for that T20 World Cup.”

Key said: “He’ll hopefully play the Pakistan series, but it’s always fingers-crossed at the moment with Jofra.

“What we’re going to do is take it slower (rather) than trying to go too quickly, so that we get him back for not just a short period, but we get him for a long period.”

Archer last played a Test for England more than three years ago in February 2021, but he has since represented them in white-ball cricket, with his last outing coming in a Twenty20 International against Bangladesh last year.

 

Half-centuries from Randy Thomas and Shomario De Peiza, followed by a stellar bowling performance by Miguel Cummins, propelled BWU-Super Blend Gladiola to the Barbados Cricket Association (BCA) Super Cup, as they defeated Wildey by 127 runs under the Duckworth-Lewis Method.

Cummings, a former West Indies and Barbados seamer, bagged three wickets for 12 runs in four overs in the rain-affected showpiece that was reduced to 24 overs per side, at the picturesque KMV Oval in St Andrew on Saturday.

The result meant that Gladiola, formerly known as Cable & Wireless, BET, and LIME, are the double white-ball champions for the 2023-24 season, after they beat Bayview Hospital YMPC by five wickets to win the BCA Twenty20 Cup last June.

Scores: BWU-Super Blend Gladiola 294 all out (50 overs); Wildey 122 all out (17.5 overs)

Cummins produced a destructive opening spell which caused Wildey problems, and from there, the opponents in their chase of a revised target of 249 off 24 overs, struggled to get anywhere close.

Left-arm spinner Matthew Jones supported with two for 21 from 1.5 overs, and former Barbados and West Indies off-spinner Ashley Nurse captured two for 35 from five overs.

Carlos Maynard led the way for Wildey with 44, and his captain Jerome Jones made 21, but no other batsman reached 20.

Wildey were put under early pressure when Demetrius Richards, their most prolific batsman in the tournament, was caught at third man off Cummins for four, and United States batsman Aaron Jones was run out for a duck without facing a ball in a horrible mix-up with West Indies Under-19 batsman Joshua Dorne in the next over.

Cummins tightened the screws in his second over when he got Dorne caught behind for six, and former Barbados and West Indies all-rounder Carlos Brathwaite, surprisingly batting at five, endured a similar fate, when he fell for a four-ball duck in the third over from the pacer.

Wildey slumped to 17 for four and continued to bleed wickets around the two rain interruptions. Jones brought the match to a close when he trapped Deswin Currency leg-before-wicket for four with 37 balls remaining.

Earlier, Thomas struck two fours and two sixes in the top score of 62 off 76 balls, and De Peiza gathered 50 from 78 balls that included three fours and two sixes.

Thomas, who was dropped on 21 by Jayden Roberts in the 18th over, shared 85 for the second wicket with De Peiza that was the bedrock of the Gladiola total.

Left-hander Jones supported with 49 that helped him earn the Player-of-the-Match award, and former Barbados and West Indies Under-19 batsman Giovonte De Peiza made 35.

Wildey captain Jerome Jones was the pick of the bowlers for his side with three for 46 from 10 overs, and Brathwaite took three for 78 from 10 overs.

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