Archer to miss India vs England series, rest of summer with stress fracture

Jofra Archer is set to miss the India vs England series, one Test, three T20Is and as many ODIs, after he was diagnosed with a stress fracture to the lower back. The 27-year-old express pacer will be out of action for rest of the home summer. 

England are scheduled to play New Zealand, India, Netherlands and South Africa at home before travelling to Australia for the T20 World Cup, which will be held in October-November. 

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“After being diagnosed with a stress fracture to the lower back, England and Sussex seamer Jofra Archer has been ruled out for the rest of the season,” the England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB) said in a statement.

The English board further added that the player is indefinitely out of competitive cricket

“No time-frame has been set for his return. A management plan will be determined following further specialist opinion over the coming days.” 

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Archer last player international cricket in March 2021 against India. A right elbow injury then kept him out of the T20 World Cup 2021 in the UAE, the Ashes and the IPL. He made a comeback to county cricket for Sussex before suffering a stress fracture.

The last competitive match that he played was a T20 game against Kent at Hove.

The Barbados-born Jofra Archer has so far played 42 international matches for England across three formats and has 86 wickets to his credit.

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He recently admitted that the injury and two operations put him in a really dark place and he feared losing his England contract. 

“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,” Jofra Archer wrote in his ‘Daily Mail’ column.