‘He’s ticking all the boxes to get back to his best’ – England coach Matthew Mott on Jofra Archer's comeback

England’s white-ball head coach Matthew Mott has given an update on Jofra Archer’s fitness. Mott said that the fast bowler is ‘ticking all the boxes’ following his return. He was undergoing rehabilitation for a couple of years after sustaining elbow and back injuries. 

Archer did not feature for England since March 2021. He also had not taken part in any competitive match since July 2021 after suffering elbow injuries and a back stress fracture. He was initially scheduled to return to the field last year after undergoing multiple surgeries. However, his back stress fracture delayed his comeback.

Mott said that medical advice was being followed to not give Archer back-to-back games. He added that Archer is yet to achieve his best but he has been doing all he can to get there.

“Not really, no. The medical advice was definitely not back-to-back games. He (Archer) would admit that he’s not fully firing on all cylinders. You can just see he’s ticking all the boxes to get back to his best," Mott was quoted as saying by Sky Sports.

“He’s a box office player . He’s fitted back into the group beautifully and it’s an incredible effort for a fast bowler to be out for that long and come back and play as he has done," he added.

“He just seems to be really slowly, strategically just making sure he’s doing it right and ticking over and come the Ashes, come the World Cup, I’m sure you’ll see him back to his best,” Mott concluded.

The Australian cricket coach had taken over the England white-ball side after guiding Australia women to 50-over World Cup glory last year.

Archer to play entire IPL 2023 season

Archer will be playing T20 games before the start of the Ashes Test. He will first play the three-match series against Bangladesh and then the Indian Premier League (IPL).

As per latest reports, the fast bowler will play the entire IPL 2023 season. He is part of the five-time IPL champions Mumbai Indians, who bought him for a whopping INR 8 crore in the 2022 IPL player auction.

Mumbai bestowed their trust upon Archer in 2022 despite knowing that he would miss the season. Now, with Bumrah's unavailability, Archer would be keen to return the favour to his patrons when they would need his services the most.

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