England National Selector Luke Wright confirmed that Jofra Archer has a chance to make a comeback in the second test against India, scheduled for July 2 in Edgbaston in Birmingham.
Archer suffered a thumb injury in May when he played for Rajasthan Royals in 2025 Indian Premier League (IPL). When England announced its team for the opening test Archer was not included on Thursday 5th June.
He was also absent in the English only test against Zimbabwe in Trent Bridge in Nottingham. Wright mentioned that Archer could appear in Sussex’s County Championship against Durham in Chester-Le-Street to evaluate his match fitness.
“Joff’s transport really well, actually. The plans are playing a few seconds for him. The plan is to play a few seconds of team games for him and load in the second Sussex team. And then play them for Sussex against Durham during the first test,” Wright said.
“So, he will play for Sussex if all things go well, and if everything crosses all things, it should be available for the second test.”
Due to the thumb injuryJofra Archer was also not unavailable for the English ODI series against West India, which took place from 29 May to 3 June. Speedster last played a test cricket during India 2021.
“Like anything with all of these pitching, you have to tick things every day without failure, but if everything goes well and goes through this Durham game, it is potentially available for this second test,” Wright added.
England did not reach the finals in 2019–21 and 2023–25 editions of the World Championship (WTC). It will focus on the strong beginning of the next WTC cycle when their series against India begins 20 June at Headley, Leeds.
Published:
Sabyasachi Chowdhury
Published on:
June 5, 2025
