England star Jofra Archer has marked his return to cricket in style, after taking three wickets for in South Africa. Archer has not featured competitively on the field for 17 months, having been ruled out through injury.
Back in action, the quick bowler was competing in South Africa's new Twenty20 league the SA20. His MI Cape Town team were taking on Paarl Royals, whose squad included fellow England internationals Jos Buttler and Jason Roy.
With the ball back in hand, Archer took a wicket with just his third delivery of the match, by dismissing the Royals' opening batsman Wihan Lubbe.
He then backed this up by dismissing captain David Miller when returning in the 19th over, before leaving himself on a hat-trick after taking the wicket of Ferisco Adams just one ball later. Archer's efforts proved key for his team.
As a result MI Cape Town kicked off their campaign with an eight-wicket victory after chasing down their 143 target with five overs to spare. The return of the quick bowler stole the headlines though, and was a remarkable sight for any English cricket fan.
One man who paid tribute to Archer was England Test skipper Stokes, who claimed he was 'buzzing' to see his international teammate finally back in action. He tweeted: "BUZZING BUZZING BUZZING to see @JofraArcher back on the field."
The target for Archer will no doubt be to return to England's Test setup ahead of this summer's home Ashes series with Australia. His comeback would be a huge boost for Stokes' team, who have revolutionised the way the sport's longest format is played in recent months.
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Archer made a warm-up return with the England Lions in December, and the Test captain has high hopes of his return in 2023. Speaking to Sky Sports Stokes said: "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... 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."
