Archer on way back as women aim to keep Tests alive

ENGLAND pace bowler Jofra Archer has been given the nod to return to light training after surgery to remove a fragment of glass from his finger last month but his level of involvement in the Indian Premier League remains unclear.

The England and Wales Cricket Board has set no timetable on Archer’s playing comeback, only revealing that the 26-year-old will work closely this week with his county, Sussex, and the country’s medical teams.

England are hopeful he will be able to up his bowling workload “from next week” as he continues his rehabilitation from a freak injury to the middle finger of his right hand that occurred when he dropped a fish tank in the bath in January.

While the problem was managed during England’s recent India tour and dealt with upon his return home, Archer also had a further injection to a troublesome elbow which deteriorated enough during the two-month trip to force action.

The combination of these issues has already led to Archer’s absence for the early stages of the IPL, where he is the reigning MVP and on an £800,000 contract with Rajasthan Royals, as England look to manage his workload.

■ England Women will open a busy summer schedule with their first Test match against India in almost seven years, with captain Heather Knight stressing the importance of keeping the format alive.

Test cricket remains a peripheral part of the landscape in women’s cricket, with just eight such fixtures worldwide in the past decade and six of those Ashes contests.

England and India have not taken each other on in the format since 2014, when the tourists triumphed by six wickets at Wormsley, but that will change when Bristol’s County Ground plays host to a four-day encounter, starting on June 16.

Despite the prevalence of limited-overs, Knight admits there is something special about donning the whites.

“I love playing Test cricket. One of my proudest moments in an England shirt is scoring a Test century,” she said.

“It’s really important that we keep Test cricket going in the women’s game. Realistically, T20 is what’s going to grow women’s cricket around the world and we’ve seen that over the last five years, but I’d love to keep playing Test cricket and to see the multiformat series that we do for the Ashes as the norm going forward.

“I’d also love to play a Test match in India, which I think it would be a massive challenge.” England Women fixtures: Jun 16-19: LV= Insurance Test match v India; Jun 27-Jul 3: Royal London ODI series v India; Jul 9-15: Vitality IT20 series v India; Sep 1-9: Vitality IT20 series v New Zealand; Sep 16-26: Royal London ODI series v New Zealand.