Archer is glad of break as he recovers from elbow injury
JOFRA ARCHER feels he is progressing well from an elbow injury that ruled him out of England’s tour of Sri Lanka and has his “fingers crossed” about featuring in this year’s Indian Premier League.
After putting pen to paper on a two-year contract extension at Sussex that will keep him at the club until at least the end of the 2022 season, Archer revealed he had another scan on his troublesome right elbow on Wednesday.
The results have not yet been disclosed but it was initially thought the express paceman would be sidelined for around three months after being diagnosed with a low grade stress fracture.
But Archer is optimistic about his recovery, and while the problem has come at an inconvenient time for him, the 24-year-old spoke about the benefits of being able to take a breather following a hectic past few months.
“The elbow is fine, I haven’t felt it for the last few weeks now so I think it’s making good progress,” he said in a video on Sussex’s website.
“I’m not targeting anything. I’ve played a lot of cricket so I don’t think I’ll forget how to play cricket even if I don’t do anything for the next couple of months.
“It’s actually nice to just take a break. I’m not happy that it’s come at this time but I’m also grateful that I’m getting the chance to relax and take a step back for a bit.”
Archer will be absent for England’s two-Test series in Sri Lanka as he continues to convalesce and it was initially thought he would miss the entire IPL campaign, which starts on March 29 and finishes on May 24.
Asked whether he could play for Rajasthan Royals at some point in this year’s IPL, Archer responded: “You never know, fingers crossed. I’ll probably have some more information when I get it re-scanned. It could be a bit longer, I might have to wait, it could be a bit shorter.”