Jofra Archer ruled out of T20 series in South Africa with elbow injury

Jofra Archer has been ruled out of the three-match Twenty20 series in South Africa next month and must now be considered a major doubt for the two-Test series against Sri Lanka in March.

The 24-year-old fast bowler sustained a bone stress injury to his right elbow following England’s opening Test against South Africa at Centurion last month and was ruled out of the final three matches of a series Joe Root’s team won 3-1.

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Archer was rested for the three-match one-day series against South Africa that starts in Cape Town next Tuesday but his absence from the T20 leg of the tour is a blow to England before the T20 World Cup in Australia later this year.

Archer also sat out England’s last T20 series in New Zealand in November and Eoin Morgan’s team will have only seven more matches in the format after this tour to settle on their best team before their World Cup campaign begins in October.

If fit, Archer is certainly in it, especially as he forged his reputation playing Twenty20 cricket, primarily in Australia’s Big Bash and the Indian Premier League, before qualifying for England last year. However, the issue with his elbow is a worry.

An England statement said: “Jofra Archer returned to UK on Tuesday evening and will focus his time on getting fit after sustaining soreness to his right elbow, which forced him out of the last three Tests against the Proteas. He will be replaced in the T20 squad by Lancashire seamer Saqib Mahmood, who will remain in South Africa after the three-match ODI series.”

England are hopeful the Sussex bowler will resolve his fitness issues in time to be available for the two Tests in Sri Lanka in March. Yet Archer this week cast doubt on that happening and revealed his right elbow has affected him since last summer’s World Cup, a campaign in which he played every game for England as they won the tournament for the first time.

“It’s getting better slowly, but it might be another two weeks,” he told the Daily Mail. “I had it in the World Cup last summer and then started to feel it on day four of the first Test [in South Africa]. Now we go to Sri Lanka, and it might be a repeat of the slow pitches in New Zealand [England encountered before Christmas]. If the elbow isn’t good enough I can’t see them sending me. We’ve got a long summer of cricket coming up, we’ve got a T20 World Cup and the physios will have a plan for my wellbeing.”

Managing the fitness of fast bowlers has been an ongoing issue for England, with Mark Wood playing his first Tests in 11 months during the final two matches of the series against South Africa. To that end the England and Wales Cricket Board has announced the introduction of pace development contracts for three players – Mahmood, Olly Stone and Craig Overton.

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Under the contracts the trio’s workloads will be overseen by the ECB’s national performance centre and the governing body will give their counties what they term a “significant contribution” to their wages. The ECB added: “As part of the agreement, the player commits to make himself available to participate in the England Lions individualised player programme and Lions Tour, subject to selection.”

England arrived in Cape Town on Wednesday to begin the white-ball leg of their tour, which will start with a 50-over warm-up match against a South Africa Invitational XI in Paarl on Friday. It will be a more low-key occasion than the one-day side’s last match – the unforgettable World Cup final against New Zealand at Lord’s in July.

That victory led to speculation Morgan, England’s limited-overs captain, would retire. But the 33‑year‑old has committed himself to stayingon until at least the T20 World Cup this year.

For Chris Woakes, who will play his 100th ODI if he is named in the XI for the series opener at Newlands next week, Morgan’s decision to stay on is a welcome one. “I’m really pleased,” he said. “There was a bit of talk about whether he might go out on a high but I think he’s got so much more to give. He’s not old by any means and is probably playing the best cricket of his career. He’s one of the best and calmest captains I’ve ever played under, so I’m glad he’s carrying on.”