Skipper Root says injured Archer not over-bowled
England Test captain Joe Root last night defended his use of Jofra Archer, after the paceman was ruled out for around threemonths with a low-grade stress fracture of his right elbow.
Archer first felt pain in the area at last year’sworld Cup and, despite England insisting the injury was carefully managed, he bowled more overs than any of his international team-mates in 2019, despite making his debut in May.
Questions were asked of Root when Archer bowled a mammoth 42 overs in his first overseas Test against New Zealand last November and have intensified since the 24-year-old missed the last three Tests of the South Africa series.
An initial scan in South Africa showed no major damage. But this can often be the case with this type of injury. Only when the swelling had gone down did Archer undergo a more sophisticated scan.
That involved injecting dye into the joint to show inflammation, and the results showed that Archer will miss next month’s two- Test trip to Sri Lanka, as well as the Indian Premier League.
He had a prominent role in both the IPL and Big Bash League in Australia before embarking on an international career which has so far yielded aworld Cup winner’s medal and three five-wicket hauls in seven Tests.
Root said: “I wouldn’t say he’s been over-bowled. You look at the amount of cricket he’s played before he played for England, he’s played a huge amount, and he came into international cricket and took the world by storm.
“He’s had a phenomenal start on the international stage and should be extremely proud of what he has achieved already in his short career. It’s pretty full on if you’re playing all three formats.
“One of the pleasing things is we are actually really clear on what the injury is now.
“We’re all gutted for him missing out, but it will be good for him to have a mental break to get some time away from the game, to get refreshed.
“We’ve just got to make sure now from the position we’re in we build him up very well from the start of the summer and make sure when that first opportunity for him to play comes he’s absolutely ready to go.”
Root is one of the few World Cup winners to have featured in this series and because England have selected only Matt Parkinson as a specialist slow bowler so far, theyorkshireman’s part-time off-spin has come to the fore.
He has not disappointed either, bowling South Africa Quinton de Kock in both his innings.
Root joked: “I’m sure he’ll get me at some point but it’s nice to get him twice in the series so, yeah, I’ll claim as my bunny for sure!
“I’ve enjoyed having the opportunity to bowl in this series. I definitely think it’s something that adds to my game and adds to the team.”
Root is not a part of the squad for the three T20s that follow the ODI series, and he admitted: “Being honest, looking at the squad there is at the minute and the players that are performing around the world in T20 competitions, I’m probably not in the best XI.
“For that reason I’m being left out and that’s part and parcel of cricket.”