Jofra Archer leaves England squad ahead of second Test with India
Jofra Archer has left the England squad ahead of the second Test against India this week.
The hope is that pace bowler Archer's much ballyhooed return to Test cricket – he hasn't played in the five-day format since 2021 – will come at Edgbaston from Wednesday but he has been forced to leave camp for a family emergency.
He is expected to return on Tuesday, giving him 24 hours before the Test gets underway.
'Jofra Archer will not be joining the England Test squad for today's training session at Edgbaston, Monday 30 June, due to a family emergency,' read a short statement by the ECB.
'He is expected to rejoin the squad tomorrow, Tuesday, ahead of the second Test at Edgbaston, which begins on Wednesday against India.'
The 30-year-old pace bowler, who has not played Test cricket since February 2021, returns to the England set-up after Ben Stokes ' squad secured a thrilling five-wicket win in the series opener against India at Headingley.
Archer's Test career has been derailed by a string of injuries. He played his first red-ball match since May 2021 last week, marking his return with a wicket in Sussex's County Championship draw against Durham at Chester-le-Street.
He initially burst on to the international scene in 2019, bowling the decisive super-over in England's World Cup win over New Zealand at Lord's and taking 22 wickets at 20.27 in four Tests that followed against Australia in the drawn Ashes series.
But an elbow injury first sustained in 2020 and that required four operations curtailed Archer's progress and he then had to work his way back from a recurring stress fracture in his back, which he first sustained in 2022.
He returned to action for England in their ODI series against Bangladesh in March 2023, but was then sidelined by elbow issues and did not play international cricket until May 2024.
England have painstakingly managed Archer to the brink of a Test comeback in the last couple of years, all thanks to the efforts of doctors, physios and especially fast bowling coach Neil Killeen.
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