Jofra Archer has been added to England’s squad for next week’s second Test against India at Edgbaston – after one innings with Sussex.
But former skipper Michael Vaughan believes he should be turning out for his county at Hove
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The 30-year-old pace bowler, who has not played Test cricket since February 2021, returns to the England set-up in the only change to Ben Stokes’ squad that secured a thrilling five-wicket win in the series opener at Headingley.
Archer’s Test career has been derailed by a string of injuries.
He played his first red-ball match since May 2021 this week, marking his return with a wicket in Sussex’s County Championship draw against Durham in Chester-le-Street.
But the hosts only batted once and there appeared a case for Archer to remain with the county for the home game against Warwickshire.
Jofra is ‘raring to go’ so now it’s up to England
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With the start of the 2025-26 Ashes series less than five months away, Vaughan feels Archer needs to play at international level this summer but advised waiting until at least the third Test at Lord’s.
“I hope England aren’t too funky in terms of just swapping and changing for changing’s sake; I like seeing teams play over a period,” Vaughan told the PA news agency.
“Yes, you want to see Jofra throughout the summer, that’s not a debate. We need to see Jofra play a Test match or two but on the back of just one innings and one four-day game in four years, I just don’t see the rush.
“Let him play for Sussex for one more week and then potentially pencil him in for the Test match at Lord’s.”
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Archer burst on to the international scene in 2019, bowling the decisive super-over in England’s World Cup win over New Zealand at Lord’s and taking 22 wickets at 20.27 in four Tests that followed against Australia in the drawn Ashes series.
But an elbow injury first sustained in 2020 and that required four operations curtailed Archer’s progress and he then had to work his way back from a recurring stress fracture in his back, which he first sustained in 2022.
He returned to action for England in their ODI series against Bangladesh in March 2023, but was then sidelined by elbow issues and did not play international cricket until May 2024.
Archer was ruled out of England’s ODI series against the West Indies last month with a thumb injury sustained playing for Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League.
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Warwickshire batter Jacob Bethell and bowlers Sam Cook and Jamie Overton, who did not feature at Headingley, have retained their places in the squad.
The second Test in a five match series starts next Wednesday, with the following Tests at Lord’s (July 10-14), Old Trafford (July 23-27) and the Oval (July 31-August 4).
England men’s Test Squad: Ben Stokes (Durham), Jofra Archer (Sussex), Shoaib Bashir (Somerset), Jacob Bethell (Warwickshire), Harry Brook (Yorkshire), Brydon Carse (Durham), Sam Cook (Essex), Zak Crawley (Kent), Ben Duckett (Nottinghamshire), Jamie Overton (Surrey), Ollie Pope (Surrey), Joe Root (Yorkshire), Jamie Smith (Surrey), Josh Tongue (Nottinghamshire), Chris Woakes (Warwickshire).
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