LONDON: England’s right-arm pacer Jofra Archer has been ruled out of the English summer season including The Ashes after the recurrence of his elbow injury, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) announced on Tuesday.
The right-arm quick, who was recently in action for Mumbai Indians in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL), has been ruled out of the entirety of the summer season which includes England’s four-day Test against Ireland and Ashes.
“Sussex fast bowler Jofra Archer has been ruled out for the rest of the summer after recent scans revealed he has sustained a recurrence of a stress fracture to his right elbow,” stated ECB in a statement.
“He will now spend time with the England and Sussex medical teams, who will work on his injury management,” the statement added.
England will kick off their busy summer season with a one-off four day Test against Ireland, scheduled to commence on June 1.
Aggressive wicket-keeper batter Jonathan Bairstow returned to the side since September 2022 as the ECB named a strong 15-member squad for Ireland Test.
He missed all of England’s winter programme, including the T20I megaevent in Australia, where his team became the World champions for the second time.
He returned to action only recently in the County Championship for Yorkshire and now looks ready to take the gloves during the Ashes, which begins on June 16.
Another positive for England is the inclusion of James Anderson, who suffered a minor injury while bowling on the opening day of Lancashire’s County clash against Somerset.
The ECB said that they would evaluate his fitness before the Ireland Test and his inclusion bodes well for the hosts.
Fast bowlers Mark Wood and Chris Woakes have also been recalled, with the latter coming back in the Test squad for the first time since March 2022 and if selected, it will be his first Test on home soil in the last two years.
With the home Ashes against Australia in sight, England will be looking forward to getting some game time before facing their arch-rivals.
SQUAD: Ben Stokes (c), James Anderson, Jonathan Bairstow, Stuart Broad, Harry Brook, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Dan Lawrence, Jack Leach, Ollie Pope, Matthew Potts, Ollie Robinson, Joe Root, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood.