Jofra Archer still has a chance of playing for England at Cricket World Cup, insists Ed Smith

National selector Ed Smith has admitted Jofra Archer still has a chance of playing for England in next summer’s World Cup despite the Sussex all-rounder missing out on the upcoming tour of the West Indies.

Barbados-born Archer, one of the hottest young talents in world cricket, will be available for his adopted country next year after the England & Wales Cricket Board tweaked their eligibility criteria last month, with players now only needing to be resident in the UK for three years rather than seven to qualify.

However, because players must be resident in the UK for a minimum of 210 days in a year running from April to March, Archer will not be available for England until March.

That meant Archer, who has a British passport and whose father was born in England, was not considered for either the Test or one-day squads that were selected for the Caribbean.

But Smith, who has not spoken to the player, insisted that does not mean Archer won’t be considered once he becomes available in March.

National selector Ed Smith (Getty)

“As it stands now, Jofra Archer was not available for those series,” he said. “So, we did not consider him for selection and he has not been selected on the basis that he’s not available, not considered and not selected. If there are other players that become available and we think they’re worthy of consideration, we would consider them.”

Asked whether that meant he was not ruling Archer out of the World Cup, Smith said: “To be honest with you, I wouldn’t rule anything out. I don’t really believe in ruling things out. We don’t try and jump too far ahead.”

England are rightly favourites for next year’s World Cup on home soil given they have climbed to the top of the one-day rankings on the back of some exhilarating cricket played under the leadership of captain Eoin Morgan over the past three years.

Archer, though, is a special case given he can bowl in excess of 90 miles per hour, is a brilliant fielder and a powerful batting option lower down the order. His breakthrough playing in last winter’s T20 Big Bash League in Australia saw him land an £800,000 deal in the Indian Premier League earlier this year.

Archer would have to be named in England’s provisional World Cup squad in April to stand a chance of playing in the tournament.

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It’s understandable then why Smith would still consider a player for the World Cup who might not have actually played senior international cricket.

“It looks that way at the moment,” he said. “Although we’ll wait and see.”

England have yet to pick their squad for the three T20s that conclude their tour of the Caribbean. Depending on when Archer becomes available – and the tour ends on March 10 – there is a small chance he could make his England debut in that mini series.

“I can say now that players will come in,” said Smith. “We have left ourselves with maximal flexibility about who might come out because there are lots of things to juggle: rest, injuries, whether they’re tired.”

England made just one change to the Test squad that won 3-0 in Sri Lanka last month, with Surrey batsman Ollie Pope the only player to miss out.

Ollie Pope misses out (Getty)

Joe Denly surprisingly saw off competition from another Surrey batsman in Jason Roy to retain his place as top-order cover for the three Tests in the Caribbean that start next month.

David Willey and Tom Curran returned to the one-day squad in place of Sam Curran and Olly Stone.

However, Smith was happy he was free to select Ben Stokes following the conclusion of the long-running disciplinary – and legal – process that followed the all-rounder’s involvement in a street brawl while on England duty in Bristol 15 months ago.

Stokes, cleared of affray in court back in August, missed the entirety of last winter’s Ashes series in Australia as well as a Test against India last summer and several white-ball matches following the incident.

Along with Alex Hales, Stokes was charged with two counts of bringing the game into disrepute, with one relating to the Bristol incident and the other relating to inappropriate use of social media.

England's Ben Stokes (Reuters)

Stokes received a back-dated eight-match ban and a fine but is now free to move on. Smith said: “Obviously Ben Stokes has been through a legal process and a cricket process – an independent commission – and is available to play cricket for England. From a selection point of view one of our best cricketers is available and that’s good news.

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“I was there in Sri Lanka for the vast majority of the tour. Although a selection role is not inside the dressing room and nor should it be, you’re around watching every warm-up, every practice session, around the hotel and it seemed to me very obvious Ben’s attitude was first-class. He’s part of an emerging core in the Test team which we’ve spoken about in this group quite a lot.

“I saw someone very invested in the team performance, giving everything he could to the team in the field, as a bowler and as a batsman.”

Stokes was stripped of the Test vice-captaincy in the aftermath of Bristol and Smith sidestepped questions about whether that is a role he would one day be able to fulfil once again.

“It’s not something I’ve thought about,” he said. “At the moment Joe Root as captain and Jos Buttler as vice-captain have been together for two series – 4-1 against India and 3-0 against Sri Lanka. Changing that at the moment does not seem to be a priority.”