Kevin Pietersen Feels Jofra Archer Might Not Play Test Cricket Again

Former England cricketer Kevin Pietersen has given his judgement on his country’s pace-bowling star Jofra Archer, stating that the player may not be able to play long-form cricket again due to another injury setback.

Archer was ruled out of the English summer of 2022 on Thursday after sustaining a stress fracture in his lower back.

The 27-year-old, who last played for England in March 2021, was aiming to return for Sussex in the T20 Blast next week after a long-term elbow injury.

It Is A Horrible Blow For Him: Kevin Pietersen

He had intended to play some second-team warm-up games before the team’s season opener against Glamorgan on Thursday. The pacemaker, however, never made it onto the field and is now out for the remainder of the season.

“It’s terrible news for poor Jofra Archer that he’ll miss the whole summer. He’s shown moments of brilliance for England and other teams and it’s just a horrible blow for him. It’s difficult to imagine him recovering from this to play long-form cricket again, that’s the horrible reality. Hopefully, he can still carve out a top-level white-ball career,” said Pietersen on Betway Insider.

“His stress fracture to the back follows a pattern of these injuries being sustained by England bowlers. I do think that the number of sports scientists can complicate things far too much. When I was playing, fast bowlers used to bowl a lot of overs in the nets and got bowling fit”, Pietersen further added.

Several past fast-bowling greats went through the hard yards in their preparation and weren’t molly-coddled in between games. Curtly Ambrose, Courtney Walsh, Allan Donald, Shaun Pollock, Glenn McGrath and all the other greats weren’t told how many balls they could bowl by a sports scientist every day. They knew their bodies and got properly fit. It feels now like England’s fast bowlers can’t cope with tough, long days with the ball because they’re not used to it,” added the former England batter.

Archer was purchased for Rs eight crore by the Indian Premier League (IPL) team Mumbai Indians during the mega auction in February this year, but he was unable to play a single game due to an elbow ailment.

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