England should not make the same error that they did with Jofra Archer, who was out for an extended amount of time, believes Test captain Ben Stokes.
Archer, who returned to cricket after being out for 18 months, bowled well in an intra-squad match ahead of England’s visit to Pakistan.
Ben Stokes on Jofra Archer
Ben Stokes, the captain of England’s test team, stated that he hoped Jofra Archer will be well and prepared for the Ashes, which will take place more than six months from now, next year. Archer recently trained with the England Lions team in the United Arab Emirates while still going through his recovery from the elbow injury that had kept him out of play for a protracted period of time. Recently, he was spotted practicing in the nets as well.
As a warm-up for the historic Pakistan visit, the 27-year-old played for the England Lions against the England Test team. The right-arm fast is anxious to return by the beginning of 2023, but he is unlikely to play in competitive cricket right immediately. Stokes was ecstatic to see Archer back on the field, speaking of his progress.
“It’s been great to see him out here when we joined up with the Lions. It’s great to see him back running with the ball in his hand. He’s one of the superstars of the international game and it’s great to see him running back in, bowling fast and it’s really good to have him back around the group as well,” Stokes said.
Ben Stokes expressed the joy at watching Archer make a full recovery and emphasized the significance of not playing him too quickly. Any attempts to integrate Archer into the team so quickly could backfire given that he has just recently recovered. Stokes said that he had faith that Archer would be ready for the Ashes, which are set for June 2023.
“I think he’s just really excited to be back. He’s obviously had a long time off with injury and as exciting as it is we’ve got to be careful not to rush him back as we don’t want to see Jofra Archer on the sidelines for this amount of [time] again. That’s the plan, hopefully we can have Jofra fit and ready especially for The Ashes. That’s something that we’re looking at for Jof and it would be great to have him available for selection for that,” Stokes added.
