India are playing England in a rescheduled fifth Test match against England at Edgbaston from July 1-5. India lead the Test series 2-1.
England pace spearhead Jofra Archer has been ruled out of the entire season due to a stress fracture on his lower back, the country's cricket board said on Thursday. Archer’s injury means he will miss the rescheduled fifth Test against India from July 1-5. (More Cricket News)
“After being diagnosed with a stress fracture to the lower back, England and Sussex seamer Jofra Archer has been ruled out for the rest of the season,” the England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB) said in a statement.
The worst part is that he is indefinitely out of competitive cricket as the ECB has not set any specific time frame for his return. “No time-frame has been set for his return. A management plan will be determined following further specialist opinion over the coming days.”
India are scheduled to play a Test match (carry over from previous series) along with six white-ball games (3 ODIs and 3 T20s) in the month of July.
The 27-year-old Jofra, who last played international cricket in March 2021 in an away series against India, had undergone elbow surgery and then made a comeback to county cricket for Sussex before suffering a stress fracture.
The last competitive match that he played was a T20 game against Kent at Hove. The Barbados-born Jofra has so far played 42 international matches for England across three formats and has 86 wickets to his credit.