Jofra Archer Makes Competitive Cricket Comeback Without ECB's Knowledge - Reports

As per the Telegraph, England pacer Jofra Archer played for Barbados club without the consent of the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). The fast bowler made a surprise appearance for his old school team Foundation in Barbados.

ECB’s managing director Rob Key also stated that he was unaware of the fact that Jofra Archer played for the Barbados club.

When asked about the same, he was taken aback and said (as quoted by the Telegraph): “I’m not aware of that. I’ll find out.”

ECB has been handling Jofra Archer very carefully because of his injury woes. He missed a lot of cricketing action due to the elbow issues. He recently made a comeback to cricket during the ODI series against South Africa. He played a few games in IPL as well but again was ruled out of the action due to the injury.

After that, he was part of the England squad as a traveling reserve for the World Cup. The fast bowler underwent his rehabilitation while practicing along with the team. However, he experienced pain and then went back home.

It was expected that he would make a comeback through the West Indies series but to worsen the case he was ruled out of the entire tour. He however trained with the team in Barbados but later without their knowledge took part in club-level cricket. Notably, the pacer before the 2019 World Cup stayed in Barbados.

Jofra Archer bowled pretty well during the game for Barbados as returned with figures of 4-18 on day one of the game. The pacer bowled some fiery balls but also picked one wicket with his left-arm spin.

I think he’s worth his weight in gold – Rob Key on Jofra Archer

Roy Key talked about how they are slowly managing Jofra Archer’s comeback and revealed that they have not given him any deadlines. He also added that the pacer was keen to go in the IPL auction but they didn’t let him. He explained:

“Jofra was bowling out here. As you often see with Jofra, he rocks up and you think what’s going to happen here, and he ends up bowling 95 miles an hour and he looks like he’s an absolute genius. But we’re just going to take it slow with him. We don’t want to put any sort of deadlines on him.

“Jofra was keen to go into the IPL auction but we just feel like, actually, the best way to do this now is just for us to be in control of it. There’s no commitment either way, and we can then just bring you back. If it takes an extra couple of months, but he gets another couple of years out of his career, and gets back fully… I think he’s worth his weight in gold.”

England are hopeful that Jofra Archer will be fit for the T20 World Cup 2024. It remains to be seen when will he make a comeback.