Morgan: new boy Archer will be ice cool in World Cup cauldron

• Fast bowler set to cause a stir after just three ODI appearances
• No former England batsman would make our top seven, says England skipper

England skipper Eoin Morgan insists Jofra Archer will not be overawed and has backed the young bowler to lead the hosts to glory at the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup.

Archer’s rise has captivated English cricket for the past 12 months and he forced his way into their squad on the eve of the tournament, thanks to an encouraging debut series against Pakistan.

England are the ranked first in the ICC ODI rankings and have picked a largely settled side since exiting in the pool stages four years ago.

But fast bowler Archer is expected to play in the opener against South Africa next Thursday and captain Morgan believes he could be a talisman as the home team chase a first men’s title, two years after the England’s women triumphed at Lord’s.

“I’m not surprised about Jofra’s emergence in the last 12 months. He has performed with us as he has around the world for the last year or more,” said Morgan.

“He is impressive in all three parts of the match. He opens, bowls well in the middle and then can come back at the death.

“There is no doubt this is a huge opportunity for him. He is young ambitious and confident. He wants to play international cricket for England and it’s exciting.

“I think he could have a long future ahead of him. The fact that his first big series is the World Cup is just exciting for him – it’s an opportunity. He won’t be overcome by it and we expect him to have a big summer.”

As hosts and tournament favourites, all eyes will be on England during the next six weeks as they attempt to claim their first ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup.

They have won their last ten ODI series, boast batsman that regularly push 500 in an innings and possess wicket-takers with both seam and spin – leaving Morgan in no doubt how this current crop stack up against past teams.

“I totally agree that no former England batsman would get into our current top seven,” he said.

“No-one is head and shoulders above anyone else and there are the ten best teams in the world here but we are confident.

“We’re as best prepared as we can be. We want the first game to be tomorrow and get into tournament now. We’re itching to go.

“It would be extremely cool if we could reach the final. Every captain would lose a left leg to do it. I grew up dreaming of playing Test cricket or scoring the winning runs in a World Cup.

“I never dreamt of this because it was too wild. Now, we’re all desperate to get out there.”