Jofra Archer feels fortunate to be able to play for England again.
England pacer Jofra Archer is hoping to play more than one Test in the upcoming Ashes 2023 series after he returned to international cricket after two years due to an elbow injury and a back stress fracture.
He is currently playing for England in the T20I series in Bangladesh and will then fly to India to ply his trade for the Mumbai Indians in the IPL 2023, followed by the Ashes series.
And the fast bowler said that it would be a bonus for him if he is able to play more than one Test in the five- match Ashes series, given his workload and body.
Jofra Archer was quoted as saying by ESPNCricinfo: “Hopefully this summer will have the opportunity to surpass it, but I do not think there will be many other summers of cricket that are better than that. If I can play one game this summer, I will be happy. If I play more than one, that's a bonus.”
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He further explained, “Sometimes you have still got that little feeling in the back of your mind that you are still not ready yet. But I just put that behind me and, whatever happens, happens. If you are supposed to get injured again, then there is nothing you can do about it. But till that time comes I am just going to give everything I have got.
Coming back and playing cricket for England again means I have already done what I wanted to do. I said 18 months ago I was going to be back, and now I am back hopefully I have a long career, so it makes no sense doing too much too soon.”
Archer said that he has surpassed his ambitions in battling back from persistent injury to resume his international career. He has claimed a total of 13 wickets in four ODIs and a T20I since his comeback against South Africa in January, including a career-best 6/40 in ODIs.
On how he is taking things on Bangladesh tour, Archer said: “In Bangladesh, I am not going to be charging in trying to bowl 95mph. It sounds a little bit bad but wickets where you put everything in and you do not get anything out, you are just putting yourself at risk. There is still a bit more rust I need to take off, but for now I am happy with how it has gone, with how the body has held up. There is always more in the tank but I am progressing and peaking at the right time.”
He signed off by saying, “There is a lot of cricket, coming up and I am just doing everything I can to stay on the park. I do not think I can play all of it, it probably would not be sensible to, but whatever the medical team tells me I can do, I am all for it.”
(With ANI Inputs)