The England Cricket Board (ECB) and Rajasthan Royals received a major blow with their quintessential pacer, Jofra Archer, ruled out for at least three months. Thereby, the lightning-quick bowler will miss out on the Sri Lanka series and the 2020 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL).
However, Archer remained positive about his quick return, after suffering a low-grade stress fracture in his right elbow. After sustaining the injury during England’s glorious summer last year, Archer played the entire season using painkillers.
The Barbados-born cricketer aggravated his injury during the Centurion Test against South Africa and failed to clear the fitness examinations throughout the remainder of the series.
“Archer underwent further scans on his injured right elbow yesterday in the UK, which confirmed a low-grade stress fracture,” ECB confirmed on Thursday.
Although, the Jaipur-based franchise is optimistic about his chances to feature in the IPL this season as they wrote, “Working with the ECB to help Jofra Archer secure a speedy recovery, and still hope to see him in a Royals jersey this season.”
Be back soon ✊🏾 pic.twitter.com/hmzDLY3l9A
— Jofra Archer (@JofraArcher) February 6, 2020
We’re working with the ECB to help @JofraArcher secure a speedy recovery, and still hope to see him in a Royals jersey this season.#RoyalsFamily pic.twitter.com/zZB6WFsQ5y
— Rajasthan Royals (@rajasthanroyals) February 6, 2020
The workload sustained by current all-format players and their management is a question to be answered by the boards and the scheduling of the FTP. The Indian cricket team as well is currently facing a barrage of injuries to their key players.
Only Pat Cummins (600 overs) has bowled more overs than Archer (400 overs) in last year, amongst the pacers. Tom Curran, when asked about Archer’s injury, claimed that injuries are part and parcel of the game for fast bowlers.
“It’s such a broad conversation, you’ll have to speak to the scientists behind it. He’s obviously bowled quite a lot recently so if that’s had an influence on it I don’t know. There’s been a lot of fast bowlers who go through phases of getting injured and not getting injured, it’s just part of being a fast bowler,” said Curran according to The Guardian.
