LONDON (AP) — Injury-hit pace bowler Jofra Archer will play his first cricket test for England in 4 1/2 years after being selected for the third match of the series against India starting Thursday at Lord’s.
It was at the home of cricket where Archer exploded onto the international scene, playing a starring role in England’s victory over New Zealand in the in 2019 — soon after switching nationality.
The Barbados-born quick has been blighted by a succession of injuries since, chiefly because of nagging issues with his right elbow for which he has undergone two operations. His most recent test appearance for his adopted country was against India in Ahmedabad in February 2021.
Archer will make his test return against the same opponent, having missed the first two tests which were shared by England and India. He will replace Josh Tongue in the only change from the second test at Edgbaston, which India won by 336 runs.
It will be just his 14th test for England since making his debut in the longest format — also at Lord’s — during . He has played regularly for the ODI and T20 teams over the past year, however, with his injury situation somewhat clearing up.
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England team: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (captain), Jamie Smith, Chris Woakes, Brydon Carse, Jofra Archer, Shoaib Bashir.
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AP cricket:
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