Sir Andrew Strauss, former England captain, has admitted that it would be a massive blow for England if Jofra Archer misses out on the Ashes series scheduled in June due to injury. He acknowledged that Archer’s elbow had been a problem for a very long time.
Jofra Archer’s elbow injury reappeared again during the ongoing season of the Indian Premier League. As per The Telegraph, he travelled to Belgium for a minor elbow procedure. However, he declined it with a strongly-worded tweet.
Strauss, while talking to Sky Sports, conceded that it’s hard to speculate on anything without having full-details. He stated:
“It has to be a concern. Without knowing the details of it, it’s obviously hard to speculate. That elbow has been troublesome for a long period now, a number of different injuries with it. It’s easy to be over cautious, and perhaps that’s what is happening now, but he would be a significant loss if he wasn’t there for the Ashes.”
Jofra Acher has played only 2 matches in IPL
Jofra Archer returned to competitive cricket this year while playing for the MI Cape Town during SA20. He has also played only two matches in the ongoing season of IPL 2023.
“It’s going to be compelling viewing, really exciting”: Strauss
The former England captain Strauss praised England’s aggressive style of cricket lately, calling it ‘mind-blowing’. He also counts Ashes as an opportunity for them to take it to the next level. He stated:
“The style of cricket England have been playing over the last 12 months, it has been phenomenal to watch, mind blowing actually. And obviously they have the greatest stage of all to show whether they can do it against a really good team in Australia. It is going to be a tough series I think, two teams that will go hammer and tongs against each other. I think it’s going to be compelling viewing, really exciting.”
England hasn’t hosted the Ashes since 2015, and Australia have won two out of the last three series between them. However, England’s performance in the last 12-18 months has been encouraging.