Ace Jofra Archer, a pacer for England, plans to play in Test cricket again during the next Ashes series in Australia. The 29-year-old returned to action during the SA20 2023 after over 18 months away from the pitch. He played for Mumbai Indians in the 2023 Indian Premier League, however he sustained an elbow injury during the competition, which prevented him from playing in the 2023 Ashes and ODI World Cup.
His international return came just in time for the 2024 T20 World Cup. A return to red-ball is still a long way off, though. Rob Key, the managing director of England, has said that the team’s goal is for him to fully recuperate before returning to the longest format of cricket rather than pushing him back into Test matches.
Speaking about his Test comeback, Jofra Archer said he was sick of reading Instagram posts about his injury and was eager to use the remaining months of the year to fully heal so he would be prepared for the Ashes in 2025–2026.
“I’m going to use the remaining months of this year to make sure that I can play in the upcoming Ashes series.” I’m sick of reading postings on Instagram that state things like, “He’s going to be on the physio’s bed for the next two weeks.” Archer told BBC Sport, “I want to spend the rest of the year proving people wrong and hopefully play in another Ashes.”
In the meanwhile, Key anticipates that Archer will return to Test duty in 2025 during the India series. According to Key, the five-match series that the Rohit Sharma-led team will play in England next summer will be the best opportunity for him to make a comeback to red-ball cricket. In the meantime, Archer announced that before making a comeback, he will be participating in a few Championship games to assess his fitness and manage his workload.
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“I’ll try my best to control myself and see myself through, at the very least, until the beginning of the Championship the following year. I’ll most likely participate in a handful of those matches in order to continue increasing my workload in preparation for Test cricket. I want to play some games since I’m feeling great. This brief period of white-ball cricket will be enjoyable for me, he declared.
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