The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) on Tuesday confirmed by tweeting that their star fast bowler Jofra Archer will not be a part of the upcoming Ashes series after being ruled out of the current Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 season. Apart from this, he is out of the entire English summer. The ECB confirmed the news when announcing the England team squad for the one-off Test against Ireland.
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Before the domestic Ashes series (Ashes 2023) in next month, the England cricket team has suffered a major setback. Their veteran fast bowler Jofra Archer has been ruled out of the entire series due to an elbow fracture. Meanwhile, Jonny Bairstow will return after recovering from a triple leg break and will take the wicketkeeping gloves from Ben Foakes. There is also fast bowler Chris Woakes, who will return to the national level for the first time since March 2022. The 15-member squad will also remain unchanged during the New Zealand tour. England has appointed batsman Ollie Pope as Ben Stokes‘ deputy with immediate effect.
Jofra Archer was playing for Mumbai Indians in IPL 2023. But he had ruled out due to injury in the middle of the season. Archer has not played any Test match since March 2021. He was running out of international cricket for almost two years due to injury. He made a comeback earlier this year. But once again injury has caught up with Jofra Archer.
Earlier, the news of an injury to England’s experienced fast bowler James Anderson also came to the fore. He suffered a groin injury during Lancashire’s most recent County Championship match against Somerset at the Emirates Old Trafford in Manchester. Anderson is also doubtful for the one-off Test against Ireland starting June 1.
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The ECB’s managing director for men’s cricket, Rob Key said, “It has been a frustrating and upsetting period for Jofra Archer. He was making good progress until a recurrence of the elbow injury, which kept him out for an extended period previously. We wish him the best of luck with his recovery. I’m sure we will see Jofra back to his best and winning games for England, whatever the format. Hopefully, sooner rather than later.”
