JOFRA ‘GUTTED’ TO BE OUT FOR THREE MONTHS
But England star admits relief at having elbow problem diagnosed at last
JOFRA ARCHER has revealed he is ‘gutted’ to miss England’s Test series in Sri Lanka next month after being diagnosed with an elbow stress fracture. The 24-year-old first felt the injury while leading England to World Cup glory last summer, and missed the last three Tests of the 3-1 win in South Africa last month. He was already set to miss the one-day series with the Proteas and will now be out for three months, hoping to return for this summer’s West Indies series. Archer (right), who will also miss out on the Indian Premier League and his £800,000 Rajasthan Royals contract, told Sportsmail: ‘I am gutted to have been ruled out for the next few months. I’ve loved every minute of my time playing for England and it will be hard to watch the guys play in Sri Lanka.’
JOfRA ARCHER last night revealed the heartache behind the injury which has ruled him out of the Test series in Sri Lanka. After being diagnosed with a stress fracture in his right elbow which will sideline him for three months, the World Cup-winning fast bowler said: ‘I am absolutely gutted to have been ruled out for the next few months.
‘I have loved every minute of my time playing for England so far and it will be hard to watch the guys play in South Africa and Sri Lanka knowing I could have been involved. All that said, it is good to know exactly what the issue is and have a clear plan to get myself fit and firing again.
‘ I knew something wasn’t quite as it should be and I do feel a sense of relief to know the cause of the problem.
‘My entire focus is now on getting myself back to full fitness so I can get back to taking wickets.’
The 24- year- old first experienced discomfort in the joint at the World Cup last summer, when he bowled the super over in the final at Lord’s to help England to a first global 50-over title.
His speed, or lack of it, was noticed in New Zealand where he was tasked with bowling 42 of England’s 201 first-innings overs in the first Test defeat at Mount Maunganui, amid suggestions that captain Joe Root was over-working him.
Archer managed just one appearance in the 3-1 series win in South Africa, claiming a third five-wicket haul in seven matches in the defeat at Centurion.
He showed his desperation to return to the fold by battling the discomfort with lightning spells in the Wanderers nets in the build up t to th the f fourth th Test, t only l to t fail f il a fitness work-out less than one hour before the toss.
On medical advice, he was withdrawn from the Twenty20 series here last week and dispatched for a second scan in London on Wednesday.
The initial test had shown up nothing significant but a more specialist scan — which involves dye being injected into the joint to show inflammation and stress-related issues — revealed the th l low-grade d d damage. Archer h will be scanned again four weeks from now and only if clear will he begin one of the ECB’s back-to-bowling programmes, which last between four and six weeks.
Archer will also miss this year’s Indian Premier League, where he has a £ 800,000 contract with Rajasthan Royals.
Although his medical screenings have been shared with Rajasthan, as a centrally-contracted player his rehabilitation will be carefully managed by the ECB in a year in which England hope to become double limited-overs champions.
In his absence, England need a win at Kingsmead today if they are to preserve an unbeaten record in bilateral one-day series stretching back to 2017.
Eoin Morgan slammed the display in Tuesday’s seven-wicket defeat in Cape Town, but later urged the players to stick to their progressive mantra during a dressing-room debrief.
Tom Curran revealed: ‘He pretty much said, “Park it, learn from it. We’ll bounce back, keep positive, keep playing our brand of cricket”.’ PROBABLE TEAMS – South Africa: De Kock (capt, wkt), R Hendricks, Bavuma, Van der Dussen, Miller, Smuts, Phehlukwayo, Shamsi, Sipamla, Ngidi, B Hendricks.
England: Roy, Bairstow (wkt), Root, Morgan (capt), Denly, Banton, S Curran, Woakes, T Curran, Jordan, Parkinson.
Umpires: Aleem Dar (Pak) & Allahudien Paleker (SA). TV umpire: Shaun George (SA).
Weather: There will be rain overnight, and showers around the start time.
Start: 11am, LIVE on Sky Sports Cricket.
It’ll be hard to watch the guys in Sri Lanka but I’ll get myself back to full fitness and back to taking wickets