Jofra Archer Picture Credit: ECB/ Getty Images
England pacer Jofra Archer has not felt himself fit in the past four months and the reason behind all that is his right elbow that has been troubling him during the time. Notably, a mishap in January saw the fast bowler dropping a tropical fish tank in his bath and suffering a cut middle finger on his right hand and getting it operated later on. Since then, neither the injury nor Archer settled down.
The extent of the injury eventually forced Archer to miss the three-match ODI series against India despite playing the Tests and T20Is against the same side. Things aggravated for Archer since as he also missed IPL 2021 that was later postponed midway on May 4. Notably, in the same month day he made a comeback to cricket in the County game for Sussex but the recurring injury again took him off the game.
Archer, after consulting with the medical team, came to the conclusion that an another surgery was the only way for him to recover from his long-standing injury. He underwent a surgery on his right-elbow last Friday, as confirmed by England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) on Wednesday.
“His progress will be reviewed by his Consultant in approximately four weeks at which point further guidance will be provided as to when he can return to bowling,” said ECB in an official statement.
Archer's prime focus is to play World T20 and Ashes for England
Archer has made it clear that his main attention would be on playing the T20 World Cup for England and the Ashes. He also mentioned that he would take his time for recovery without any signs of hurry this time.
"One thing I am determined about post-elbow operation is not to rush my comeback because my primary focus is to be playing for England in the Twenty20 World Cup and Ashes later this year," said Archer on Daily Mail.
"I just want to get this injury sorted once and for all and that’s why I’m not looking that far ahead or at dates for a return to action — because if I don’t get this right, I won’t play any cricket. Period.
"Surgery was always the last option and we wanted to exercise every possible strategy before we went down that route. It was the last thing on the list. It is not always a fix and in four weeks we will find out how things have gone," he added.
India play five-match Test series against England starting August 4 and the way Archer is concerned about taking time to rest, he is more likely to be unavailable for the entire Test series against India. This is because the pacer doesn't afford to skip the game for a third time due to the same injury that too then T20 World Cup is round the corner.