“That’s where he’s extremely dangerous because he does swing the ball,” Bond says. “He gets bounce and even in the IPL and on good wickets, he was generally knocking over good players and causing problems.
“That’s the sort of player you’re looking for in red-ball cricket.
“He also has that psychological impact because people know what he is capable of.
“Jofra has that sort of aura about him. When he gets it right there’s something just unique about the way he does things.”
But the biggest unknown remains whether Archer’s body can withhold the strain of cricket’s longest format.
Australia captain Pat Cummins made his Test debut as an 18-year-old but did not play again for five years because of a series of injuries, including back stress fractures. He has gone on to become one of the all-time greats in the second part of his career.
Bond, though, managed only eight more Tests after his back was fused with titanium wire in a bid to fix the issues in 2003.
“The biggest thing is the worry factor,” Bond says.
“He’s had the combination of back and elbow, so the biggest risk for both is that the increase in load and intensity and for both of those areas.
“I can’t speak for Jof but for me that never went away with my back. For the rest of my career when I bowled I always worried that it might go ping because you knew the repercussions if it did.”
Archer’s preparations for a Test return began in earnest after returning to Sussex after this year’s IPL.
Initially bowling with a guard on his thumb to protect an injury that ruled him out of the white-ball series against West Indies, Archer began with one spell per day followed by a rest, then two spells and eventually bowling on back-to-back days in the nets, largely to Sussex bowling coach James Kirtley.
Then, on 22 June, came the moment Archer had been waiting for – his first first-class match for 1,500 days.
Playing for Sussex against Durham he took 1-32 across 18 overs – the most he had bowled in a match for more than four years.
Afterwards Archer described the day he returned with the ball as “the longest” he has ever had, but seemed to be referring to the lifeless Chester-le-Street pitch rather than the tiredness in his legs.
“He threatened the right-handers outside edge,” former England bowler Steven Finn says.
“Everything wasn’t coming in as maybe we saw in the white-ball cricket.
“What I saw was the ball holding its line to right-handed batters, which is a really positive sign to see his wrist right behind the ball.
“It wouldn’t be possible for that to happen if it wasn’t.”
That England have opted to recall Archer after only one innings – Sussex did not bowl in the second innings of the Durham draw – shows how highly they rate him.
“I just think he’s one of those bowlers, and there’s not many, who you get generally excited about watching,” Bond says.
“Whether it be [India bowler Jasprit] Bumrah or Jofra, there’s a level of excitement because they just make it look easy.”
He adds: “Just temper the expectations.
“I still think it’s going to be exciting to watch him bowl and I still think he’ll do something awesome but just realise that it’s never easy coming back from an injury like that.
“He’s just expected to blow teams apart and he could. But it’s just nice to be great to see him back in the whites.”
