'Still stiff, trying to take some rust away' - Jofra Archer ahead of long-awaited England return

Ace pacer Jofra Archer believes that he is yet to recover from the injuries he has suffered since March 2021. He recently played five matches for MI Cape Town in the SA20 League, where he picked up eight wickets. However, that does not guarantee him a spot in England’s playing XI against South Africa as the Three Lions might not risk him given his fitness concerns.

Archer stated that he currently is operating at about 80% of his best and thus, the Jos Buttler-led side may not rush him back to action with the Ashes and ODI World Cup just around the corner. Archer was spotted with some of his England teammates in Bloemfontein during training. The cricketer stated mentioned that he is currenty feeling well but there is still some stiffness in the body.

“It looked fantastic but on the inside, I'm still a bit stiff and trying to take some of the rust away. I'd probably say I'm about 80%. It’s just some fine-tuning now, just more discipline than actual cricket stuff,” the pacer was quoted by skysports.com.

I don't think there's much that can stop me: Archer on regaining full fitness

Archer believes that he will soon regain 100% fitness. He also mentioned that he won’t sad about his injuries leading him to miss plenty of cricket, stating optimistically that everything happens for a reason.

“I know whenever I'm fully fit, I don't think there's much that can stop me, it's just a matter of when that was going to be. I'm not going to be upset or bitter about how the timing's been. I think everything happens for a reason and I guess there's a reason I'm here in South Africa right now.

“There's no reason to look back. I've done my time and I'm here now. That's the most important thing. To be honest, I had the best time being injured, I had stuff to keep me going - my friends, my family, the gym. I'm not upset at all, I don't think I wasted any days as well when I was injured. I'm happy,” the England international added.