Joe Root calls for patience as Jofra Archer struggles to keep up with Test pace

Joe Root says that England will give Jofra Archer all the patience and understanding necessary to bring out the full potential of his Test career, after an at-times subdued display with the ball in the first Test against Pakistan at Emirates Old Trafford.

Despite claiming four wickets in the match, including an important first-innings haul of 3 for 59, Archer's performance was lacklustre compared to the standards that he set in last summer's Ashes.

His pace was consistently in the mid-80s - compared to the peak speed of 96mph he touched on debut at Lord's last summer - and when challenged on that point in a mid-match interview with Sky, he remarked that the wicket was not one on which to "bend your back", and that "no-one is a robot".

However, the scrutiny comes after a tough few weeks for Archer, who has been a first-choice pick for each of England's four Tests this summer, but had to be dropped on the morning of the second Test against West Indies when it transpired that he had breached England's bio-secure bubble with a visit to his flat in Brighton en route from Southampton to Manchester.

Archer subsequently spent a week in isolation in his room while being screened for Covid-19, during which time he suffered racist abuse on social media. And reflecting on his difficult month, Root said the England team had to continue to rally round their fast bowler and give him the support he needs to live up to the heightened expectations that surround him.

"We just need to be very understanding that he's still very young in his Test career, and that there will be mistakes and lessons to be learnt," said Root. "But as long as he's willing to learn from them and to keep looking to improve and get better, we will continue to see very special things from him."

Archer, of course, secured his place in cricket history at Lord's last July, when he held his nerve in the World Cup final Super Over to secure England's maiden title, at the end of a campaign in which he was the team's leading bowler with 20 wickets at 23.05.

He then added a further 22 at 20.27 in his maiden Ashes campaign, including two six-wicket hauls in each of England's wins at Headingley and The Oval, before a tough winter in New Zealand and South Africa culminated in an elbow fracture that he hinted in his Sky interview is still playing on his mind.

"Just remember that, under very high pressure at the start of his career, he's performed extremely well," Root added. "He has done very special things against Australia in an Ashes series, right off the back of a World Cup under a heavy workload.

"He's capable of winning games, there's no doubt about that. He might have a quiet game every now and again, and he might not always get it right. But there will be times as well when it turns up and wins you a game in a session, and turns a game on its head.

"We've got to keep encouraging him to have that mindset, to have that confidence in his own ability, and when he gets an opportunity, to really make an impact," Root added. "To take a spell by the scruff of the neck and hammer it home. Because he's more than capable of doing that."

And yet, there were occasions at Old Trafford that might have been tailor-made for the sort of impact spells about which Root was talking - most notably, the third evening during Pakistan's second innings, when a burst of Archer at his most fiery might have driven home England's advantage. Instead Chris Woakes was called upon to rough up Shadab Khan with a short-pitched spell, before Ben Stokes - a fitness doubt before the match - was thrown the ball to claim two late wickets with his characteristic aggression.

"We all get very excited when [Archer]'s bowling up around 90 miles an hour, and certainly that will cause batters a lot of trouble," Root said. "But there is more to it than that. And that we've got to understand that he has a bigger package to offer.

"But you also have to look at different passages of the game, and when guys have bowled and when they need a little bit longer to get ready before they come back.

"On that wicket, as two-paced as it was, it doesn't matter who's bowling. If it's 80mph or 90mph, it's always dangerous bowling short, it's just making sure you get in the right area. We went a different way on that occasion. And it worked for a period of time.

"Jofra is a huge talent, we all know that, and he's not always going to get it right. He's very young still and he's still learning and there is definitely a lot of much winning performances in him."

With the second Test getting underway at the Ageas Bowl on Friday, the strong likelihood is that England will ring the changes to an attack that remained unchanged after the series victory against West Indies.

Sussex's Ollie Robinson has already been withdrawn from Sussex's county fixture against Kent and will link up with the squad on Monday, with a view to a potential Test debut, maybe at the expense of James Anderson, who is likely to be rested after two games in a row. Mark Wood is also a possible inclusion, having not featured since England's first-Test loss to West Indies last month.

"The extra day definitely will help," Root said, after England wrapped up the first Test on the fourth afternoon. "I think we'll have to be quite smart, as we were in the previous series, and we'll have to see how everyone pulls up.

"But we are in such a good position, with so many great options that all bases will be covered. We should have a very strong side, whatever the make-up of the Test side is."