ARCHER ON TARGET FOR AN EARLY COMEBACK

JOFRA ARCHER is on schedule to be bowling in just over a fortnight and hopes to be fully fit from the stress fracture of his right elbow within six weeks. That timeframe would see the England fast bowler ready to return to action in mid-April and potentially place him on a collision course with the ECB. They ruled him out of involvement with Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League when the low grade fracture was revealed a month ago yesterday on the tour of South Africa. The initial forecast for the 24-year-old’s recovery was three months, taking him up to May but, following a scan on Thursday and discussions with ECB medical staff in Hove, he is set to be back bowling within two to three weeks, pending a further scan to check the joint has continued to heal. Should all go to plan, the 2019 World Cup hero would be ready to return around April 17 — exactly a month before the IPL’s last group game. The final is carded for May 24. Archer is known to be keen to play and Rajasthan — who also have Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler and Tom Curran in their squad — have repeatedly refused to rule him out. However, although he has a deal worth £800,000 annually with the Royals, the ECB hold the power of veto by the terms of his near seven-figure central contract and are likely to err on the side of caution in a year that features an attempt to unite 50-over and Twenty20 world titles in Australia. Gaining further high-level T20 experience would be beneficial in that regard but England will have to weigh that against preparing Archer for a summer that includes Test series versus his native West Indies and Pakistan from June 4 onwards. England coach Chris Silverwood has already vowed to rotate his fast bowlers more in a bid to avoid injury issues like the one that has dogged Archer since last summer.

ENGLAND bowler Chris Woakes has withdrawn from this season’s Indian Premier League. Woakes was picked up by Delhi Capitals for £160,000 at the tournament draft in December but has pulled out in a bid to keep himself fit for the international summer.