Jofra Archer would need to wait longer for his comeback as England have decided to stick with the same playing XI that defeated India at Headingley for the second Test. Archer, who last played a red-ball game in April 2021, was in line for a comeback, having played in Sussex’s away game against Durham, where he bowled 18 overs and grabbed a scalp for 32 runs.
A prolonged run of elbow and back injuries kept him away from any form of cricket for a major part of the last four years. But now that he is fit to play, England would want to test him before the Ashes later this year. This means his inclusion in any of the next Tests is almost a certainty.
Archer wasn’t available for England’s training on Monday as a family emergency kept him away, though he returned and was seen training at Edgbaston on Tuesday.
The selectors seem not to be rushing with him. England are scheduled to play the second and third Test with a three-day difference, and they would not want to overwork him immediately after his return to the longest format of the game.
His exclusion was confirmed as England announced their squad two days out from the second Test at Edgbaston. Having won the first game, they are riding high on morale. But England had to run the hard yards to get the victory, and start the five-game series on the right note.
India, who were ahead for most of the game, experienced a series of horrors which included dropped catches, lower-order collapses, and bowlers failing to exploit the conditions. Plenty has been asked, and more than plenty has been answered about how India lost the series opener from a position of sheer dominance.
Chris Woakes, England’s most experienced fast bowler in the current squad, is, however, happy how things fell into place for the hosts.
“It’s always good to get over the line and get a win,” Woakes said. “That does breed some confidence within the group to show that we’re doing some things right. We’re also a group that we know we need to improve. There are areas that we did last week that we know we can do better. So yes, we’ll look at putting those things right.
“But certainly as a team, we’re pretty happy with how we go about things and the style of cricket and the brand of cricket we want to play. We know that, that’s been successful over the last few years and we’ll stick to that. But there’s definitely still tweaks that we know we can do a bit better as a team. So we’ll be looking to do that.”
None of the unused squad players – Archer, Sam Cook, Jamie Overton, or Jacob Bethell – will be released for county duties this week. England want them close.
England’s winning formula holds: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (captain), Jamie Smith (wicketkeeper), Chris Woakes, Brydon Carse, Josh Tongue, Shoaib Bashir.
