LATEST: England officials are surprised by Jofra Archer’s bowling haul in the Barbados school game.
Jofra Archer’s comeback from injury over the weekend took England by surprise as the fast bowler took four for 18 in the Barbados Cricket Association league.
After a recent setback to his right elbow, Archer rejoined England in the Caribbean island where he was up. in Friday, he participated in some bowling drills.
It is understood that he returned to the UK on Sunday night, but not before playing a few hours earlier for his former school, Foundation, in a three-day BCA League Division I match versus Lords.
However, it appears that he did so without England’s knowledge, as Rob Key, the director of men’s cricket, expressed surprise when he learned that Archer was playing in the second division of Barbados’ club system.
“I’m not aware of that – I’ll find out,” said Key.
Lords were bowled out at Church Hill for 114, with Archer being named bowler of the match according to a scorecard on the Barbados Cricket website.
According to the Cricketer website, he took one wicket with left-arm spin and made 11 with the bat as Foundation finished the innings at 78 for 8. The second and third days of the competition will take place the following weekend, but Archer’s trip home is probably going to keep him out of the game for the most part.
The 28-year-old missed the Ashes series due to a recurrence of a stress fracture in his right elbow, which has plagued him since his breakthrough year in 2019. His last professional appearance was in May.
After being named as England’s only “travelling reserve” for the World Cup, he only stayed in Mumbai for three days due to more soreness, but in October, he was given a two-year central deal.
In order to ease Archer’s return, perhaps for the June 2024 T20 World Cup, England has refused to allow him to participate in the Indian Premier League auction.
“Jofra was bowling out here,” Key added. “As you often see with Jofra, he rocks up, ends up bowling 95 miles an hour and he looks like he’s an absolute genius.
“But we’re just going to take it slow with him. We don’t want to put any sort of deadlines on him. That’s what we’ve done in the past, we’re trying to learn from what we’ve done in the past with Jofra.
“Actually now we’re taking control of him coming back. We’re not going to say, ‘you need to get back for this part here’. From what they’ve said, an elbow injury is a complicated place to have an injury.
“Jofra was keen to go into the IPL auction but we just feel like the best way to do this now is just for us to be in control of it. There’s no commitment either way, and we can then just bring you back.
“If it takes an extra couple of months, but he gets another couple of years out of his career and gets back fully – I think he’s worth his while in gold.”
