ARCHER’S OUT
He cut his hand cleaning!
JOFRA ARCHER is to undergo minor surgery on his bowling hand tomorrow following medical checks on his return from India.
The England fast bowler was forced out of the one-day international series that concludes with a decider in Pune today by a deteriorating elbow injury but the ECB reported yesterday that he had also suffered a cut below his right middle finger ‘while cleaning at his home in January.’
The 25-year-old has played two Tests and five Twenty20 internationals since but he wore a strapping on the finger during practice in Ahmedabad on March 14 and there are concerns that a fragment of glass may need to be removed.
‘Jofra suffered a cut to his hand while cleaning at his home in January shortly before flying to India to prepare for the Test series. The injury was managed by the ECB’s medical team through the tour and it did not impact on his availability,’ read a statement.
As reported by The Mail on Sunday a fortnight ago, the plan was for Archer to rest after a second cortisone injection in his elbow —which he had upon his return to the UK — with a view to returning with Rajasthan Royals during the latter stages of the Indian Premier League.
The two injuries may now jeopardise him fulfilling any of his £800,000 agreement with the Royals. Players insure themselves against missing such tournaments due to injuries, meaning Archer should not be out of pocket.
Meanwhile, Jos Buttler has said Ben Stokes’s fireworks in Friday’s second ODI against India have created a ‘good headache’ for the selectors as they try to settle on a top three for the T20 World Cup later this year.
Stokes hit a destructive 99 in 52 balls from No3 as England chased down 337 to level the series. And it raised the possibility that he will fill the same role when England return to India in the autumn and seek to become the first team to hold the T20 and the one-day World Cups at the same time. All 10 of Stokes’s sixes on Friday came off India’s spinners, Krunal Pandya and Kuldeep Yadav, encouraging the argument that he should be allowed as much time as possible to wreak havoc in the T20 format, rather than enter the fray as low as No5 or No6.
Asked if Stokes could go in at first drop in the T20 World Cup, Buttler — England’s stand- i n captain while Eoin Morgan recovers from a hand injury — replied: ‘Yeah absolutely. It was impressive to watch. Ben always wants to be as involved in the game as much as he can.’
England’s last ODI series triumph in India was back in 1984. With so much at stake in today’s game, they may resist the chance to give a first outing of the winter to Lancashire leg-spinner Matt Parkinson and settle for the recall of paceman Mark Wood.