Jofra Archer bowls during a training session. (File Photo)
Jofra Archer has been ruled out of the entire English summer season after suffering a lower back stress fracture. The England pacer has been on the sidelines for a year now nursing injuries and was planning for a comeback in this summer.
Archer was in line to play for Sussex, this month. However, the latest injury has ruled him out of the entire English summer.
"Archer has been ruled out of the rest of the English season,'' the England and Wales Cricket Board said on Thursday. This comes as a massive blow for the pacer as he won't be able to play until September.
“A management plan will be determined following further specialist opinion over the coming days,” the ECB said in a statement.
The T20 World Cup begins in October in Australia. Archer missed last year's tournament in the United Arab Emirates.
Archer hasn't played international cricket since March 2021 or any competitive cricket since May of that year, when he underwent the first of two elbow operations. The second surgery was in December, after which the Barbados-born paceman said he felt much more confident of a return to action.
Archer has had fitness concerns ever since a breakthrough summer with England, his adopted country, in 2019 when he starred in the team's Cricket World Cup triumph and then the Ashes.
Given his ability in all formats, there are fears he might have played too much — not just for England but in the Indian Premier League and the English county game.
(Inputs from AP)
