England fast bowler Jofra Archa has admitted that the elbow injury that has sidelined him for most of the past two years left him in a “dark place”.
Having blazed his way on to the international scene by helping England win the 2019 World Cup, Archer has since suffered an injury nightmare due to his problematic right elbow.
He missed last winter’s T20 World Cup and Ashes series after undergoing a second operation in December and there have been question marks about whether the Barbadian-born pacer might be forced to sacrifice his Test career and concentrate on white-ball cricket.
But Archer insist he remains committed to representing England in all three formats. “Having gone into a dark place last summer after the first op, I can see why when people are not on the good side of situations like this, they sometimes have a downwards spiral in terms of mental health,” Archer said in his Daily Mail column.
“It’s natural for anyone to worry about the future in that kind of situation, but not having to chase a contract gave me the time to rest properly.
“Yes, there have been two surgeries, but honestly, I couldn’t have written my rehab comeback any better.
“Now, I just need some game time to be able to put my trust in the elbow. I’ve not trusted it supporting me for a long period, so it’s going to take a little bit of work to do so and bowl at full tilt.”
And Archer has set his sights on returning to action for Sussex’s opening game in the Vitality Blast this month but says he is not yet in a position to say when he will available to play Test cricket again.
England have just appointed Ben Stokes as their new Test captain and first up this summer will be New Zealand on home soil in a three-match Test series, starting on June 2.
Archer, who has featured in 13 Tests, 17 one-day internationals and 12 T20s for England, first suffered a stress reaction in his elbow on the 2019-20 tour to South Africa and he missed the last three Tests.
He returned to the fray in the summer of 2020 but the issue recurred during last year’s tour of India and he has not represented England since a T20 in Ahmedabad 14 months ago.
“I find myself in an unfamiliar place as I build towards the start of the Vitality Blast this month – from a fitness perspective, I cannot believe how good I feel,” Archer added.
“Am I confident things are where I would like them to be before Sussex’s opening Twenty20 fixture against Glamorgan on May 26? Absolutely.
“As for Test cricket this summer, I simply haven’t thought that far ahead. I’ve not had any prompts from anyone, telling me I’m a one-format player as yet. I still want to play everything.
“But my first task is the Blast and if I don’t play that properly, then I won’t be able to play Test cricket. So the focus needs to be on the cricket I’ve got lined up and we will see from there.”
