NEW DELHI: Tearaway England pacer Mark Wood has backed fellow fast-bowler Jofra Archer to be fit and ready to feature in the highly-anticipated Ashes starting from June 16, citing the battles he’s overcome in the last few years.
Archer has not played Test cricket since February 2021, picking 42 wickets in 13 matches since his debut in 2019 and had undergone multiple operations for back and elbow injuries in the last two years.
He finally made a comeback to international cricket in 2023 through impressive performances in England’s white-ball tours to South Africa and Bangladesh. Archer is currently playing for Mumbai Indians in IPL 2023, though he missed four matches due to an elbow niggle.
“I feel for Jofra actually and I can sympathise with him quite a bit there. You feel like you’re just getting back and then you have a little setback and things happen. The curve’s never in a straight line is it, you know that on the way back you’re going to have bumps along the way.”
“He’s a champion player and I’m sure he’ll come back and be a champion again. I think, reading between the lines, it sounds like it’s not a massive setback that he’s going to have. He has overcome bigger things and I’m sure that he will be ready for the Ashes,” Wood was quoted as saying by Sky Sports News. IANS
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