With an elbow injury, England fast bowler Jofra Archer has been ruled out of next month’s two-Test series against New Zealand at home. The 26-year-old swift returned to action for Sussex in a drawn County Championship match against Kent at Hove this week, but he only bowled five overs in the visitors’ second innings due to a long-standing injury to his bowling shoulder. Archer was “suffering from pain in his right elbow while bowling,” according to an England and Wales Cricket Board statement reporting his exclusion from the match against the Black Caps.
“The England and Sussex medical teams will now take advice, and Archer will meet with a medical specialist later this week to assess the next course of action on the treatment of his elbow,” the statement continued.
Archer had undergone surgery to remove a piece of glass from a wound he sustained while washing a fish tank, in addition to healing from the elbow injury.
He got off to a good start in his comeback match against Kent, taking 2-29 in 13 overs, including England batsman Zak Crawley, and claiming the first two wickets.
On Saturday evening, however, Sussex coach Ian Salisbury announced that he will not bowl again in the four-day series.
“This is a tragic situation for Jofra,” Sussex captain Ben Brown said.
“He’s a world-class cricketer, incredibly talented and gifted, but he can’t do what he wants right now — he can’t do his abilities.”
“I have a lot of sympathy for him.”
“Jofra did the right thing playing in the second XI game the week before,” Brown said, “and we all want him to be completely fit and shooting for England, the Ashes, and stuff like that.”
“We tried to do the best thing for Jofra’s career, and he wanted to play in this game to prove his fitness, but it just didn’t work out this week.”
With the New Zealand games followed by a five-Test series against India, England have a busy schedule for the rest of the year, especially for multi-format players like Archer, with the T20 World Cup in India and the Ashes in Australia.
Due to Archer’s absence against New Zealand, fellow Sussex paceman Ollie Robinson may be called into the team, with Somerset seamer Craig Overton, who earned his fourth cap in 2019, still in consideration.