West Indies will be ready to attack when they face England's Jofra Archer & Co at the Ageas Bowl

Floyd Reifer has promised that the West Indies will fight fire with fire when they front up to England’s Jofra Archer on Friday at the Ageas Bowl.
Jofra Archer has been producing fireworks for England. Picture: Jordan Mansfield/Getty ImagesJofra Archer has been producing fireworks for England. Picture: Jordan Mansfield/Getty Images
Jofra Archer has been producing fireworks for England. Picture: Jordan Mansfield/Getty Images

Archer has been in devastating form at the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2019 and bowled the quickest ever ODI spell by an England player against Bangladesh since records began 13 years ago – averaging 90.6mph.

Adding spice to his encounter with a fiery West Indies side, Archer was born in Barbados and played age-group cricket for the two-time world champions before switching his allegiance to England.

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And Windies head coach Reifer insists his batsmen – led by the titanic Chris Gayle – will not shy away from Archer’s 90mph thunderbolts and attack him from the off in one of the most highly-anticipated matches of the tournament.

Chris Gayle of West Indies looks on during the group stage match of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 between South Africa and West Indies at the Ageas Bowl on Monday - when bad weather ruined what looked set to be an exciting match. Picture: Alex Davidson/Getty ImagesChris Gayle of West Indies looks on during the group stage match of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 between South Africa and West Indies at the Ageas Bowl on Monday - when bad weather ruined what looked set to be an exciting match. Picture: Alex Davidson/Getty Images
Chris Gayle of West Indies looks on during the group stage match of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 between South Africa and West Indies at the Ageas Bowl on Monday - when bad weather ruined what looked set to be an exciting match. Picture: Alex Davidson/Getty Images

He said: ‘It will be entertaining, we are all here to entertain. I am sure Jofra will be chomping at the bit to come at us but we will be ready for him.

‘We have known Jofra for a long time, he is from Barbados. We knew him from under-15, under-17 and under-19 so he is not new to us.

‘He is bowling quickly but that is nothing we are not accustomed to. We are looking forward to the challenge.

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‘I actually played club cricket against him as a young guy. Jofra is a tremendous talent, we all know that.’

Before Reifer can start planning for Archer, he must hope the rain which washed out the West Indies’ contest with South Africa at the Ageas Bowl on Monday takes leave for Friday’s exciting contest.

Only 7.3 overs were played, with the West Indies restricting South Africa to 29 for two thanks to a pair of Sheldon Cottrell wickets.

That leaves the Windies on three points, with a resounding win against Pakistan in their first match followed by a 15-run loss to Australia last week.

Reifer added: ‘We have been playing great cricket, it does not matter who we play right now. We are out to play an exciting brand of cricket, just like we had done in the first couple of games.’

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