England at last received some positive news on their torrid tour of South Africa when it emerged Jofra Archer is in line to be fit for the third Test in Port Elizabeth.
The fast bowler was ruled out of the ongoing second Test in Cape Town after pulling up with pain in his right elbow during training on New Year’s Day. Fears were raised that Archer could be ruled out for the final two Tests of the series when he was sent for a second scan on the problem on Friday.
However, England have issued an upbeat assessment on the 24-year-old’s fitness, saying the scans revealed nothing more than inflammation. Since making his international debut in early May, Archer has played 22 times for England – including seven Tests – and this injury, despite not being serious, will raise fears over his workload and concentrate minds about how best to protect him in the long term.
With a nine-day gap between the end of this match and the third Test at St George’s Park, team management are confident Archer will have enough time to recover and resume his place in England’s attack.
He could be joined in Port Elizabeth by the Durham paceman Mark Wood, who is back to full tilt in the nets, with England increasingly confident he will be ready to feature in the final two Tests.
The return to fitness of their two quickest bowlers is welcome news for an England camp who have had to endure a miserable tour so far. A sickness bug swept through the squad before and during the first Test at Centurion while a freak ankle injury sustained playing football by the opener Rory Burns on the eve of the Cape Town Test has ruled him out of the rest of the series.
An attack of Archer and Wood – who can both bowl in excess of 90mph – would be an exciting prospect but it would present England with a dilemma as they would have to leave out at least one of Stuart Broad, James Anderson or Sam Curran.
The way Anderson and Broad bowled on the second day of this Test would make dropping either of them unthinkable. Curran, who recovered from a shaky start to take the key wickets of Rassie van der Dussen and Quinton de Kock in the final session, was effusive in his praise of England’s senior bowlers.
“They were amazing,” said Curran. “It was great to watch them bowl as a pair. They bowled that whole session in the middle and didn’t take any wickets but didn’t go for many runs.
“That’s why I think I probably got my wickets later in the day because of the pressure they built up. They showed why they’re world class bowlers and it was great for me to watch and learn.
“I thought we bowled really well as a group and it was great for Jimmy to end with those two wickets with the new ball. In the morning the ball will still be pretty new and hopefully we can get our rewards quickly.”
