"The best thing might be to miss the IPL this year" - Robert Key's advice to Jofra Archer
England men's cricket's managing director Robert Key recently revealed that he had advised Jofra Archer to skip the IPL to play County Championship matches ahead of the Test season. However, the former middle-order batter also stated that he didn't mind Archer playing in the IPL to get some overs under his belt.
The 29-year-old was initially not part of the auction but entered later. The Rajasthan Royals secured his services for a hefty amount of ₹12.50 crore; the right-arm speedster will feature in the cash-rich league for the first time since the 2023 edition when he played for the Mumbai Indians.
Speaking to Wisden Cricket Weekly's Patreon channel, Key claimed that Archer was happy to play the County Championship matches.
"Jofra is always brilliant to deal with," he said. "We were like, 'The best thing might be to miss the IPL this year and get yourself ready, and we'll start building your loads up… if you can get through a bit of Championship cricket, and then you can start the Test summer. He was happy with that. But we had to look and see what India were going to do with [the IPL's rules]. We thought that we could make the case that he's still in part of a managed workload period."
However, the 45-year-old acknowledged that he didn't want Archer to forgo the significant amount he can earn in the IPL.
"They [the BCCI] came back after a bit of back-and-forth and said, 'Well no, he won't be allowed to go into this year, next year from then on. So then you start thinking that could be about $4 million that he loses out on there, and I don't then feel… then it's on him, really. So then Jofra decided that he felt the best thing for him was to go into the IPL [auction], which we had no issue with, and then do that loading throughout the IPL and get himself ready for the Test series that way."
Archer made his international comeback in the T20I series against Pakistan before the World Cup this year, playing for the first time since March 2023.
"He's got to be able to show that he can sustain it through a whole four-day game" - Robert Key on Jofra Archer
While Key believes Archer has the potential to be one of England's best ever, he underlined the need to sustain his fitness for longer periods of time.
"The plan is that he'll be ready to play. He was only ever going to play one or two Tests this summer, probably - at a push, three. He's also got to get in the team now. I think he could be one of the best bowlers we've had, but he's got to find form. He's got to be able to show that he can sustain it through a whole four-day game," Key said (as per the aforementioned source).
Archer is likely to tour India for England's white-ball series.