Move FM Australian News

Cape Town – England bowling sensation Jofra Archer has hit back in the war of words between him and Australian batsman Steve Smith ahead of the fourth Ashes Test.

Smith sparked the verbal jousting when he said about Archer; ‘He has hit me on the head, but he hasn’t got me out’, seeming to suggest that he is not intimated by the Barbados-born seamer.

This, after an Archer bouncer hit him on the helmet in the second Ashes Test, resulting in a delayed concussion that saw Smith ruled out the third Test. But the world’s best batsman has recovered from that knock and is set to return in the fourth Test starting next Wednesday.

Archer responded to Smith’s dig, saying: “I’m not here to get caught up in a contest with one man. I want to win the Ashes.”

The 24-year-old express bowler then admitted that he was one the most relieved people in the stadium when England sneaked home with a one-wicket win in the third Test as he was well aware of the fact that he had given away his wicket needlessly.

“I wanted to make it less hard work for Ben, but I got out,” Archer said.

“I thought I had messed the series up, not just the game but the series, so I was actually very, very relieved that we are still alive and fighting.

“Your coach always tells you don’t leave it for anyone else. I tried to do as much of it as I could. We have all seen enough cricket to know, 80 to win, with just one wicket left against the Australian bowling attack… We were very grateful to be on the winning side, that is all I can say.”