Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], March 15 (ANI): England pacer Jofra Archery played a two-day match between Sussex and Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) on Friday, raising a buzz about whether he is gaining the fitness levels enough to feature in Three Lions' ICC T20 World Cup title defence in West Indies and USA, starting from June 1 onwards.
Archer, the 28-year-old pacer has not featured in any competitive cricket since last May, when he played an Indian Premier League (IPL) match for Mumbai Indians (MI) against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and has been recovering from a stress fracture that has affected his right elbow. He had returned to competitive cricket in January after nearly two years during which he battled elbow and back injuries. He played some white-ball cricket for England briefly before his elbow issues flared up yet again during the IPL. This also caused him to miss the ICC Cricket World Cup at India in late 2023.
As per Sky Sports, Archer is in India with the Sussex team as a part of a 10-day training camp. During the opening day of the two-day match, he did not bowl, but joined the KSCA team as a substitute on day two. He took two wickets in the morning session, one of which broke the stumps.
https://twitter.com/SussexCCC/status/1768499079816876306
Archer will not be playing in the IPL this year. England and skipper Jos Buttler are however positive that he will be fit for the ICC T20 World Cup starting from June 1. He averages 24.66 in 15 T20Is and has taken 18 wickets. Due to his injuries, Archer has only featured in 49 international matches for England since his international debut in 2019.
Archer missed the ICC T20 World Cup in Australia back in 2022, which England won. The fiery pacer was however one of the emerging stars of ICC Cricket World Cup 2019, taking 20 wickets and leading England to their first major world championship title during the Super Over in the final against New Zealand.
England has been grouped with Australia, Namibia, Scotland and Oman in Group B and the Buttler-led side will be starting their defence against Scotland at Barbados on June 4. They will later play arch-rivals Australia at the same venue four days later. (ANI)
