Jofra Archer says that he has already surpassed his ambitions in battling back from persistent injury to resume his England career, but admits that he would consider it a “bonus” if he is able to feature in more than one Ashes Test this summer.
Archer, 27, is in the midst of an encouraging but cautious return to action across formats, having claimed an impressive 13 wickets at 16.92 in four ODIs and one T20I since making his international comeback for England against South Africa in January.
That haul includes a career-best of 6 for 40 in Kimberley last month, and he is likely to feature in one of England’s two remaining T20Is against Bangladesh in Dhaka this week, before linking up with Mumbai Indians for the forthcoming IPL.
And while the demands on his time and availability are likely to be onerous in the coming months – with the IPL season bleeding straight into England’s Test summer against Ireland and Australia in June and July – it is vastly preferable to Archer’s status this time last year, when his gruelling recovery from two elbow operations was scuppered by a stress fracture of the back.
