Jofra Archer stepped up his latest injury comeback with a lively spell for Sussex’s Second XI ahead of a potential England return next week.
Archer bowled six overs after being parachuted into the side on day four of the second string game against Kent at Beckenham on Friday and will now travel to Leeds to join up with the England squad ahead of this month’s T20 series against Pakistan.
The seamer claimed figures of one for 11 and looked threatening throughout a pacy spell, hitting opener Ekansh Singh on the helmet before having the same player caught in the slips off an outside edge.
Archer has not played top-level cricket in a year after suffering a recurrence of a stress fracture of the elbow while playing at the Indian Premier League last May.
He has, however, been playing club cricket in Barbados as part of his rehabilitation and was earlier this month named in England’s provisional squad for the summer’s T20 World Cup in the USA and Caribbean.
To make that trip, the 29-year-old will have to prove his fitness in the four-match series against Pakistan, which starts at Headingley on Wednesday.
Given his wretched injury record in recent years, England are taking a cautious approach with one of their star assets and have already ruled out a return to Test cricket until 2025 at the earliest.
“It’s a huge encouragement for him to be back and see him ready to play,” England white-ball captain Jos Buttler told the PA news agency.
“Everyone knows what he is capable of and the attitude he possesses. As a captain he is someone you can always turn to in a game because he always has a trick up his sleeve.
“It’s great to be able to call on him but it’s important to manage expectations. He has been out of it for a while now so we will need to look after him and realise that it might just take him a little while to be the Jofra of 2019.
“He is a proper superstar but we do have to be smart with him. It’s a jump in intensity from what he’s doing now to international cricket and you can’t really replicate it.”
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