Jofra Archer gives major scare to England as elbow injury resurfaces
Jofra Archer has given England another major scare ahead of the Test series against New Zealand and India, with his elbow injury resurfacing in a County Championship match on Saturday.
Jofra Archer missed the ODI series against India and IPL 2021 due to the same elbow. He underwent surgery in March followed by a few weeks of recovery.
The right-arm quick made his return last week for Sussex's 2nd XI and was deemed fit to feature against Kent in the County Championship game.
He started on a positive note with 2 wickets in his opening spell in the first innings, rekindling hopes of a rousing international comeback. However, he delivered just 5 overs in the second dig and spent most of the time fielding despite an apparent request from Sussex skipper Ben Brown.
Sussex coach Ian Salisbury later revealed that Jofra Archer had a 'sore' elbow and skipper Brown wasn't aware of it.
"I think there was some confusion about the state of Jofra’s elbow. Ben thought he was going to bowl but his elbow was sore and there was confusion over that and he couldn’t bowl,” Salisbury was quoted as saying by Daily Mail.
He also said that it was the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB)'s job to allow or bar Jofra Archer from bowling in domestic games.
"If you saw today, he’s not going to bowl tomorrow. You’ll have to ask the ECB. Any time that Jofra can’t bowl you’re going to be frustrated as a leader, or as a team. But it happens. In sport people get injured. That’s life. That’s sport. He’s still willing to be out there because he wants Sussex to win. They [the ECB] had to give him permission to play this game. He’s not our player so they had to give permission," he added.
Overall, Jofra Archer has featured in 13 Tests, picking up 42 wickets at an average of 31.05.
Jofra Archer might miss New Zealand Tests
Earlier media reports have already confirmed that some of the key Test players like Jos Buttler, Chris Woakes, Sam Curran, Jonny Bairstow and Moeen Ali are unlikely to feature in the 2-Test series against New Zealand which will begin on June 2.
The ECB might take a similar route with Jofra Archer giving the World Cup-winning pacer some extra time to recover before the 5-Test series against India in August.