Pacer Jofra Archer will travel with the England squad to the upcoming Men’s ODI World Cup in India as a travelling reserve, the Three Lions’ lead selector Luke Wright has said.
Archer was not included in England’s final 15-player World Cup squad announced on Sunday due to the reoccurrence of a stress fracture in his right elbow. Archer had suffered the injury while playing for Mumbai Indians in IPL 2023 which had ruked him out of the entire English home summer this year.
“The best thing for Jofra is to travel with the team and keep working with his rehab and being around the physios and the team. We are doing all we can to get him ready to be as good as he can be. If there was an injury he might be able to replace at the back end of the tournament but obviously we are still working on his fitness day-by-day and we’ll have to keep accessing that,” said Wright, a former team-mate of Archer at Sussex, in a statement issued by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB).
Earlier, Archer was part of the England team which won the 2019 ODI World Cup in 2019 against New Zealand at Lord’s. The right-arm quick had bowled a thrilling Super Over in the title clash and was also England’s leading wicket-taker in the competition.
Archer is currently working on his rehabilitation.
Notably, England will begin its campaign in the ODI World Cup against New Zealand at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on October 5.