England suffer another jofra archer blow as ben stokes makes new ambition clear

ARCHER’S RETURN TO ACTION HAS BEEN CAREFULLY MANAGED AND HE WAS PENCILLED IN TO PLAY FOR ENGLAND LIONS AGAINST INDIA NEXT MONTH - HE LAST PLAYED IN AN ENGLAND TEST IN FEBRUARY 2021 RORY

DOLLARD 14:36, 21 May 2025 England bowler Jofra Archer has been hit by yet another injury setback that could delay plans for a Test comeback against India. The 30-year-old hurt his right

thumb while fielding for Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League and initial hopes of a quick recovery have receded. Instead, he is believed to be facing up to a month on the sidelines

and has been withdrawn from the forthcoming one-day series against the West Indies. That timeline also puts his expected red-ball return in doubt. Archer’s return to action has been

carefully managed and he was pencilled in to play for England Lions against India next month with a view to making his long-awaited Test return during the subsequent five-match series.

Archer played the last of his 13 Tests in February 2021 and has since endured multiple injuries to his elbow and back. England will now need to revisit their plans when he is fit for action

again and assess if a Test outing before the end of this summer is viable. READ MORE: Ben Stokes fires back at England cricket critics - 'Complete and utter rubbish'READ MORE:

James Anderson to make emotional cricket return one year on from England farewell Despite his long absence from the longer format, he is still seen as a potentially match-winning option in

this winter’s Ashes. A statement from the England and Wales Cricket Board read: “England men’s and Sussex pace bowler Jofra Archer has been ruled out of the Metro Bank ODI series against the

West Indies due to a right thumb injury. He will be reassessed by the England medical team over the next fortnight to determine when he may return to action.” Lancashire’s left-arm seamer

Luke Wood, who was already in the T20 squad, has been named as Archer’s replacement for the three-match ODI series. Archer's injury comes as Test captain Ben Stokes sets his sights on

taking his team to number one in the world rankings. Sir Andrew Strauss was the last England skipper to reach the summit back in 2011, holding the title for less than a year, but the annual

update of the International Cricket Council’s table recently catapulted Stokes’ side from fifth to second. Only rivals Australia remain above them. Stokes made his ambitions plain in a

message to head coach Brendon McCullum and managing director Rob Key. “When the rankings came out, I did send Baz and Keysy a text saying, ‘We’ve got one more place to go’,” he said.

“Everyone knows when things are going well for us as a team we are incredibly hard to stop. We know it doesn’t always go that way. “The word ‘ruthless’, I’m not a big fan of. The words I do

love and what I’ve tried to instil in this team is ‘dominance’ and ‘dominate’. “Whatever situation we find ourselves in the game, that’s the word I want to be at the front of our heads.

Article continues below “We have Zimbabwe now and that’s our sole focus at the moment. We know what we have coming up, but we will deal with the challenge of Zimbabwe then as we get closer

to India starting, turn our focus to that.”