After undergoing an elbow operation, England pacer Jofra Archer has said that he would not be rushing his comeback as he wants to play the T20 World Cup and Ashes.
England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) on Wednesday confirmed that Archer had surgery to address his long-standing elbow issues on May 21. Archer will now be commencing an intensive rehabilitation period working with the ECB and Sussex medical teams.
"One thing I am determined about the post-elbow operation is not to rush my comeback because my primary focus is to be playing for England in the Twenty20 World Cup and Ashes later this year. Those are my targets. If I come back before then and manage to play in the home Test series against India -- then fine, so be it. If I don't, I am quite prepared to sit out the summer," Archer wrote in his column for Daily Mail, as reported by ESPNcricinfo.
"The way I am looking at things is that I would rather miss a few weeks of a year so that I have a few more years in my career. I just want to get this injury sorted once and for all and that's why I'm not looking that far ahead or at dates for a return to action. Because if I don't get this right, I won't play any cricket. Period. I am not going to do myself any good by coming back before I'm fully fit, so I will take my time and do what is best for me and my life," he added.
Archer, who had returned to action for Sussex in the County Championship against Kent last week at Hove, only bowled five overs. He was suffering from pain in his right elbow when bowling and as a result, he was unable to bowl in the final two days of the match. ECB had earlier confirmed that Archer has been ruled out of the upcoming two-match Test series against New Zealand.
"Surgery was always the last option and we wanted to exercise every possible strategy before we went down that route. It was the last thing on the list. It is not always a fix and in four weeks we will find out how things have gone. I must retain faith that this now sorts out the issue for good, although there's always room for another surgery if needs be. At the age of 26, I am still pretty young," said Archer.
"However, my attitude right now is that the less thought I put into things like that, the better. I just want to throw myself into the rehab. I remain committed to playing all three formats for England and to winning big series. But it has been quite a while since I bowled completely pain-free," he added.
Earlier this year, Archer had suffered a cut to his hand while cleaning at his home in January shortly before flying to India to prepare for the Test series. The ECB's medical team managed the injury throughout the tour, and it did not impact his availability. A fragment of glass was removed during the operation to his middle finger on his right hand in March.
Archer had played two Tests and all the five T20Is against India, and then he was ruled out from the ODI series and the IPL.
( With inputs from ANI )
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