Ben Stokes has warned Australia that Jofra Archer could be 'fit and ready' for the Ashes next summer. Archer's England career has been blighted by injury in recent years after announcing himself on the world stage in 2019.
Archer has not featured for England since taking to the field against India in a T20 match in March 2021. His last appearance in the Test setup came one month earlier, against the same opposition in Ahmedabad.
Over a year-and-a-half on Archer is finally back in an England shirt and bowling with a ball in his hand - albeit for the Lions in a warm-up game ahead of England series in Pakistan.
After seeing the quick bowler back in action, Test skipper Stokes has revealed his delight to see him back bowling. He told Sky Sports : "It's been great to see him out here when we joined up with the Lions.
"It's great to see him back running with the ball in his hand. He's one of the superstars of the international game and it's great to see him running back in, bowling fast and it's really good to have him back around the group as well."
Whilst this winter would prove too quick a turnaround for Archer, his captain has revealed he is targetting a comeback in 2023, just in time for the summer Ashes series against their Australian rivals. He went on: "Hopefully we can have Jofra fit and ready especially for The Ashes.
"That's something that we're looking at for Jof and it would be great to have him available for selection for that." Archer himself was pleased to get himself back out there, describing his comeback as a 'small day but sill a big day'.
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Per CricInfo , he said: "This is probably the first time I've been so close to umpires in about 18 months as well. It's really good to be back and being here with all the guys is probably the best way to do it as well... I feel sore - the usual when you bowl.
"Nothing to worry about at all. It's weird feeling this way again. This is probably the best soreness I've ever had after bowling. I'll take this! Hopefully it stays like this, as I play some more cricket and it goes on. It was really nice, yesterday was a really really big day. It was a small day but still a big day."
