England coach Matthew Mott has said that they would be willing to take a risk with a proven performer like Jofra Archer when it comes to the ODI World Cup later this year.
Archer has been plagued by a series of injuries over the past few years. His elbow issues began in early 2020 and had to undergo a series of surgery to solve the issue.
Despite these setbacks, Archer made a comeback to international cricket in January 2023, albeit only in the white-ball formats during the series against South Africa and Bangladesh. However, his return was short-lived as he experienced discomfort in his elbow while playing in the Indian Premier League (IPL) in April 2023. This led to his early return from the IPL and further elbow surgery.
Archer had missed the Ashes 2023 series as he was recovering from the surgery and got ruled out for the entire summer. The pacer has been shown back in the nets with Sussex.
Speaking to the Daily Mail, Mott said that there is a chance that England would take a risk with a proven performer like Archer on a stage like the World Cup.
There is a high chance that we will take a risk on a proven performer that has done it on the world stage.
“We are planning for him to be available. Obviously, a lot of things have to go his way and it will be a tight timeline but with players like that you are going to give them every opportunity to prove their fitness, and so we will keep an open mind,” said Mott.
The England coach admitted that playing Archer in every game would be a bit of a stretch and they will be looking to target specific matches for him.
“It would be a big ask for him to play every game, so we would have to target specific ones, but we are big on ball speed for India, we feel like that’s a really important asset for us to have out there and it will be good to see Mark Wood, who had such an impact in the Ashes, do the same with the white ball,” said Mott.
