Watch: Jofra Archer returns to cricket with a bang; bowls a peach to dismiss Zak Crawley
England pacer Jofra Archer returned to action with a bang after sitting out over a month due to an elbow injury. The Barbados-born bowler, who played in the Group 3 County Championship match for Sussex against Kent, made an immediate impact on his comeback.
Jofra Archer troubled the batters with some quick, unplayable deliveries and picked up two wickets in his first four overs of the match.
The ball that he delivered to dismiss Zak Crawley was an absolute snorter and left the batter clueless. Jofra Archer had a brilliant battle going against Crawley and had already missed the outside edge on a few occasions before.
On the last ball of his fourth over, Archer bowled a good length delivery that lifted off from nowhere and got high on the batter. Zak Crawley tried to drop his hands in an attempt to get out of the way but the ball kissed the outside edge and carried through to the wicket-keeper.
Jofra Archer and the other Sussex cricketers were pumped with the dismissal and celebrated hard.
A few balls before the fall of the wicket, Jofra Archer bowled a slightly short of a length delivery to Kent captain Daniel Bell-Drummond. The awkward bounce got the better of the batter and he ended up edging it to second slip.
England have high hopes of Jofra Archer for the upcoming season
Jofra Archer pulled out midway through England's tour of India in March after aggravating his elbow injury. After his return back home, the pacer had to undergo hand surgery after a freakish fish tank accident to remove glass fragments from his hand.
At that stage, the England Cricket Board (ECB) didn't want to rush Jofra Archer's comeback and subsequently informed the Rajasthan Royals he wouldn't return to play IPL 2021.
It is unlikely that Jofra Archer will be playing the upcoming home Test series against New Zealand. He'll probably be eyeing the five-match Test series against India for his comeback.
With England to play the T20 World Cup and the Ashes this year, Archer will be a key part of the jigsaw puzzle, and the ECB hope he will be available for the entire season.