London, May 16 (IANS): England pacer Jofra Archer has been ruled out of the English summer, including the Ashes, due to a recurrence of the stress fracture in his right elbow, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) confirmed on Tuesday.
Concerns about Archer's fitness were raised earlier this month when he flew home early, cutting short his stint in the ongoing edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) with the Mumbai Indians.
ECB had then released a statement, stating that the 28-year-old was "pushing through the discomfort whilst recently playing" but could not take any further part in the IPL. And now, it has been confirmed that the pacer will miss out on the entirety of this summer's Ashes campaign, which begins at Edgbaston on June 16,
Archer is now set to undergo rehabilitation with the England and Sussex medical teams, who will work on his injury management.
"It has been a frustrating and upsetting period for Jofra Archer. He was making good progress until a recurrence of the elbow injury, which kept him out for an extended period previously," said ECB Managing Director for England Men's Cricket, Rob Key, in a statement.
"We wish him the best of luck with his recovery. I'm sure we will see Jofra back to his best and winning games for England, whatever the format. Hopefully, sooner rather than later," he added.
In the absence of Jasprit Bumrah, Archer was expected to lead the Mumbai attack in the IPL but played only five of the 10 games when he was part of the squad. He picked up only two wickets at an economy rate of 9.50.
The latest setback piles on the series of injuries Archer has sustained for the better part of the last three years. The ace pacer returned to international cricket in January 2023, although only in the white-ball formats during the series against South Africa and Bangladesh.
Archer's elbow issues date back to early 2020 when he sustained a stress fracture that sidelined him for the first half of the year. In early 2021, he had to go under the knife after a freak injury at home. A stress injury on his back in May 2022 put him on the shelf for the entirety of the year.
Archer finally returned to international cricket earlier this year in January 2023 and played seven matches (four ODIs, three T20Is) against South Africa and Bangladesh. He showed signs of finding his old rhythm, registering his career-best ODI figures (6/40) in just his second game back against South Africa.