Jofra Archer will return to competitive cricket for the first time in nearly 18 months as he works his way back to full fitness ahead of a stellar year of cricket for England.
With the Ashes series and the ODI World Cup on the horizon, fast bowler Archer will play two matches for MI Cape Town in the South African T20 Cricket League, SA20, which will be broadcast live Sky Sports Cricket.
Elbow problems and a stress fracture in his back have kept Archer sidelined since March 2021, but he had a solid performance on his first appearance in November, bowling nine overs as the Lions played England in Abu Dhabi ahead of Pakistan’s Test series.
Tuesday, January 10, 2:30 p.m
During the training camp in Abu Dhabi, England’s chief executive of men’s cricket, Rob Key, confirmed Archer’s gradual return to cricket.
“Our plan for him is that he will play two games in the South African franchise [competition], which will be his first competitive cricket. If that goes through, we’ll pick him for the South Africa ODI series, so he’ll go from four overs to 10 overs,” Key said in November.
Archer has been selected for MI Cape Town for the SA20 and their first game is on Tuesday against Paarl Royals followed by a game against Durban Super Giants on Friday.
England men’s cricket chief executive Rob Key says Archer needs to get more robust before he can play at Test level
If Archer gets through his two matches unscathed, he will hope to feature for England after being named in the squad for the three-match series against the Proteas, which starts on January 27 in Bloemfontein.
Sam Archer hopes to be fully fit in time for the ODI World Cup later this year, while England captain Ben Stokes hopes to be able to call upon the paceman during the Ashes series in the summer.
The England fast bowler will be among a number of familiar faces in MI Cape Town, where he will be joined by Sam Curran, Olly Stone and Liam Livingstone.
The tournament will feature players such as Eoin Morgan, Jos Buttler, Adil Rashid, Jason Roy and Phil Salt, while Harry Brook was part of the Joburg Super Kings squad but was withdrawn from the competition by the England and Wales Cricket Board. manage your workload.
All matches from the SA20 league will be shown live Sky Sports Cricketafter a five-year rights deal was announced.
The competition will last for a month and consists of 33 matches involving six franchises made up of several famous names from around the world.
The six teams will play each other twice in the round robin, before the semi-finals and the final.