"At one point, I thought I was going to lose my contract" - Jofra Archer reveals his fears during recovery period
England speedster Jofra Archer has admitted to being in a dark place during his long recovery from an elbow injury and had doubts regarding his career. Archer, who is yet to confirm his much-anticipated international return, said his primary focus is on remaining injury-free for at least a year.
Jofra Archer hasn't played for England since early 2021, having undergone multiple elbow surgeries. The right-arm speedster missed key events such as the 2021 Ashes series against Australia and the T20 World Cup and is likely to miss the upcoming home summer as well.
The ECB has announced the award of central contracts for England Men's international cricket for 2021-22.
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In his column for The Daily Mail, the 27-year old reflected that his first surgery in May made no difference; however, things began improving after the second. He harboured fears of losing his contract but is now confident of the future, having not 'rushed back' from his injury, saying:
"After my first operation last May, my right elbow felt no different at all. Obviously, I wasn't going to fully know whether it had been successful until I started bowling, but what I can say is that things immediately felt different after my second one in December. Now, nearly five months down the line, it's a relief the way things are. At one point, I thought I was going to lose my contract when things weren't going well, but now I have confidence about what the future holds. Part of that is down to them not rushing me back."
He added:
"Having gone into a dark place last summer after the first op, I can see why when people are not on the good side of situations like this they sometimes have a downward spiral in terms of mental health. It's natural for anyone to worry about the future in that kind of situation, but not having to chase a contract gave me the time to rest properly."
The 2019 World Cup winner will feature in Sussex's T20 Blast fixture against Glamorgan on May 26 as he builds up towards his international return. In October 2021, he was among the 20 players to be included in the centrally contracted player list.
"As for Test cricket this summer, I simply haven't thought that far ahead" - Jofra Archer
Archer sais that he is not looking too far ahead and feels it is keg to performing well in the T20 Blast to be able to play Tests again. The 27-year old said that he wants to play in all three formats for England, adding:
"As for Test cricket this summer, I simply haven't thought that far ahead. I've not had any prompts from anyone, telling me I'm a one-format player as yet. I still want to play everything, but my first task is the Blast and if I don't play that properly, then I won't be able to play Test cricket. I am not setting ambitious targets just yet. All I want is to stay on the park for a full year without any more setbacks."
Big blow for England ahead of this year's @T20WorldCup and the Ashes 👀
Jofra Archer has been ruled out for the rest of the year with a recurrence of a stress fracture of his right elbow. https://t.co/FPn99Q52oD
England sorely missed Archer during the T20 World Cup and Ashes when his express pace could've made the difference. They will at least hope for his availability during this year's edition in Australia.