NEWS
Follow UsEngland fast bowler Jofra Archer has warned he may struggle to cope with anymore injury woe, saying: "I don't know if I have another stop-start year in me".
Archer, who signed a two-year central contract with England in October, last played a Test in February 2021. His career has since been blighted by injuries and the 29-year-old Sussex quick missed the whole of last year's home season with a stress fracture in his right elbow.
But Archer, who rose to prominence in 2019 when he bowled the Super Over as England beat New Zealand in the 50-over World Cup final, is on the comeback trail, with hopes of featuring in June's T20 World Cup in the United States and his native Caribbean.
Earlier this month, England cricket chief Rob Key protectively ruled Archer out of playing a Test match again until 2025 at the earliest but said the T20 World Cup was a realistic goal for the paceman. Archer too would love to help England defend their title but was cautious about his prospects.
But he accepts the mental and physical toll of yet another breakdown might be too much to handle.
"I really do want to be in the team. I really do want to be playing back at home… I'd love my family and my dogs at that first game back. I haven't played for England at all this year, so I think it would be really fitting if that could happen," Archer told The Athlete's Voice by 4CAST.
"The last two years have been really stop-start, so I just think that everyone's going to just take it a bit easy. If I'm ready then fine, happy days. But if I'm not, they're still supporting me until whenever I am ready.
"Worst-case scenario, even if I don't make it to the World Cup for whatever reason, there's still the T20 Blast, there's still the Hundred. There's still cricket that I haven't got a chance to play in the last couple of years. As much as I want to play in the World Cup, if it doesn't happen for whatever reason, at least I still know I could be somewhat active as well.
"Last year, I played from January to May, because I did go to the IPL as well. And then the year before that, I played maybe one or two games for Sussex, so I've had a whole year of nothing… hopefully, from June 1 and when June 1 comes next year, hopefully I've had no breaks… no injuries, and just constantly playing. It's been a while and honestly, I don't know if I've got another stop-start year in me. That's the truth. I don't know if I've got another one."
Talking about dealing with negative comments on social media, Archer said: "Everybody - honestly, everybody - has an opinion. It doesn't matter what you do or how good you are, everyone will have a go at you at some point.
"Even now, any time England or my franchises post, all of the comments are - or if I post training clips, people are like: 'He'll probably be injured tomorrow.' It's just stupid comments like that… I really need people to take accountability for what they say, because if you're saying that stuff, you've got to answer for it."
(With inputs from AFP)
Play Asli Fantasy on Cricket.com. Download the App Now.
