The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Stress fracture rules Archer out of Sri Lanka Tests
England paceman Jofra Archer has been ruled out of next month’s two-test series in Sri Lanka as well as the Indian Premier League because of the right elbow injury that blighted his tour of South Africa.
Archer missed the final three Tests against the Proteas. After it was revealed he would miss the Twenty20 series he returned to the UK, where a scan has revealed a low-grade stress fracture.
Likely to be out of action for around three months, Archer will undergo another scan in four weeks and could commence a back to bowling programme soon afterwards with a view to returning for the start of the English summer.
Archer first had a scan on his elbow after being ruled out of the second Test at Cape Town because of pain in the area last month, which showed no major damage.
It was thought he would be available for the final Test at Johannesburg but he was a late withdrawal.
However, the nature of the injury often means the first scan shows nothing significant. Only when the swelling had reduced did he have a more sophisticated scan, which involved injecting dye in the joint to show inflammation.
The results, which rules Archer out of the series in Sri Lanka – where 60 World Test Championship points are available per match – completes a difficult first winter on England duty for Archer.
He was England’s leading wicket-taker in their triumphant World Cup campaign and then took 22 scalps at an average of 20.27 in the Ashes in a breakthrough international summer.
However, he struggled on the tour to New Zealand.
He missed the T20 series between the teams and took only two wickets in the two-test series, where he struggled to get to grips with the Kookaburra ball and flat pitches, while he was racially abused in the opener at Mount Maunganui.
He took five for 102 in his last bowling innings as England lost heavily in Centurion to start their tour of South Africa, after which injury struck.
The 24-year-old was one of a number of England’s World Cup winners rested from the ongoing one-day international series but had been expected to return, alongside Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler and Mark Wood, for the three T20s.
However, he will now turn his attention towards getting fit for England’s first assignment of the summer: the first of three Tests against the West Indies, starting on June 4 at the Oval.