The opening days of the World Cup have seen aggressive, short-pitched fast bowling come to the fore.
In an era when the bat has been dominating and the poor bowlers have been afforded precious little movement from the white ball, bouncers are a legitimate tactic.
You might ask why this is different to Test cricket where, if a batsman chooses (and is able to), he ducks and weaves the bumpers until the bowler gets fed up and tries something else.
In one-day internationals, the batsman is under pressure to get on with run-scoring and does not have the luxury of leaving too many deliveries.
He is almost compelled to go after the short ball. It is difficult to master the skill of scoring runs from a 90mph delivery that is dug into your armpit or is fizzing past your nose.
It remains to be seen if this trend continues. A lot will depend on pitches and conditions because on a slow wicket or an overcast day when the white ball may offer a hint of swing, it would not be a good idea to be banging it into the middle of the pitch.
If, however, short-pitched bowling becomes a necessity, England are well stocked in the shape of Liam Plunkett, Mark Wood and Jofra Archer.
Along with Ben Stokes, Archer was the standout performer in England’s opening win against South Africa on Thursday. He took three wickets and rattled the grille of Hashim Amla, forcing one of the finest players in the game to retire hurt.
Archer has an incredible talent. He is one of those fast bowlers who makes it look easy.
You will see others having to charge in, arms and legs pumping, in order to generate high speed.
Archer has a loose-limbed approach in a run-up that is not very long. He gets into a good position at the crease and releases the ball late from a very high action. He snaps the ball down at genuine pace.
He has rhythm to his bowling. That is a hard a thing to define but very difficult to find if it is not there. It is when everything is working in perfect harmony – the run-up, action, release and follow-through all click and flow into one another.
For Archer, it looks like all of that comes naturally.
