England's star pacer is moving closer to his return to international cricket and is expected to remain fit enough to feature in their upcoming T20I series against Pakistan.
While the England team's managing director Rob Key is hopeful for Archer to remain in contention for the T20 World Cup this year, he confirmed that the pacer will not be considered for Test cricket until 2025.
Notably, Archer was in Bengaluru recently as a part of Sussex's pre-season build-up and now is gearing up for action in club-level cricket in Barbados.
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Despite making just seven appearances for England in white-ball formats since March 2021, the ECB awarded Archer a two-year central contract in October.
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He has not played for England in any format since March 2023 because of an elbow injury.
He last played in the IPL 2023 for Mumbai Indians where he picked up just two wickets in five matches.
“The whole plan with Jofra is he is going to play white-ball cricket this summer. Then hopefully next summer when we play India then the Ashes [in Australia] we get him back for Test cricket,” Rob Key told Sky Sports.
“It’s all about getting himself ready for that T20 World Cup. He’ll hopefully play the Pakistan [T20] series [in May], but it’s all fingers crossed with Jofra at the moment. What we’re going to do is take it slower [rather] than trying to go too quickly so we get him back for not just a short period, but a long period,” Key added.
Archer attended a 10-day pre-season camp in Bengaluru with his English county side Sussex and also played for Karnataka as a substitute player, bagging two wickets during a two-day practice match.
“Jofra’s been out at Sussex’s pre-season in India and bowled quickly out there. He bowled really well. He’s now just gone back to the Caribbean, where he will play a little bit of club cricket, stuff like that,” Key said.
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England management is keen to monitor Archer’s progress carefully as they want to ensure his participation in the upcoming T20 World Cup 2024.
His inclusion in the marquee tournament which begins on June 2 in the West Indies and the USA will give a boost to their bowling line-up.
The defending champions England will kick off their T20 World Cup 2024 campaign against Scotland on June 4 at the Kensington Oval in Barbados.
Their next fixture will be against their arch-rivals Australia on June 8 at the very same venue.