Jofra Archer made his return to bowling in England colours today, September 12, as he continued his recovery from an elbow injury that has kept out of action since this year’s Indian Premier League.
Jofra Archer will miss the entire 2023 England summer due to a recurrence of a stress fracture in his right elbow. He has been plagued by repeated injuries over the past few years, having injured his right elbow in the winter of the 2019/20 season. The England superhero, who starred in the 2019 World Cup final, has not played a single international match at home since 2020 due to injury.
Due to this right elbow injury, Archer was not included in England’s reserve squad for the 2023 World Cup, but he was still able to travel to India as a substitute.
When the squad was announced, England selector Luke Wright said, “Unfortunately, I don’t think we’ll be able to include him in the squad from the start.” The best-case scenario for Joff right now is that he probably does. Play Back – Available at the end of the tournament. This is the best-case scenario, but of course it’s much weaker with a team of 15 people.
“The last thing we want to do is put a huge time limit on him and try to force him to rush into a play before he feels ready.” First you need to understand him correctly.
“But if everything goes well and there is an injury, are there any opportunities or places where he could potentially play at the end of the tournament? Yes, there are potential opportunities. But of course, There are still many things that need to be resolved with this rehabilitation until then.”
Jofra Archer bowling in the nets at The Oval 👀 pic.twitter.com/1vDu6Lh092
– Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) 12. September 2023
England would have been heartened to see Archer bowling close to 100 per cent in a training session on the eve of the third ODI against New Zealand. He bowled at good tempo to Director of Cricket Rob Key, with new assistant coach Andrew Flintoff coaching the ball.
Wright’s hope that Archer is fit enough to play a role in the later stages of the World Cup may come true. However, if Archer was named only as a substitute, player injuries would require Archer to have his 15 in the first team.
To bet on the World Cup with our Match Centre Partners bet365 head here.
Subscribe to the Wisden Cricket YouTube channel for post-match analysis, player interviews, and much more.
