Jofra Archer has put the cricket world on notice that nothing can stop him now that he is fit enough to resume his international career after nearly two years out with injuries.
The 27-year-old has been building back up to top speed in the SA20 tournament for MI Cape Town and has looked seriously impressive. But he will pull on an England shirt this week to take things up a notch, kicking off 2023 in the best way possible.
And he is hoping to emulate his breakthrough year of 2019 when he played a starring role in both the World Cup and the Ashes with moments of high pace and quality. “Hopefully it can be a repeat of 2019,” Archer said after training in Bloemfontein.
“We've got again a 50-over World Cup and an Ashes in the same year so more of the same, please. There's no reason to look back.
“I've done my time and I'm here now. That's the most important thing. I'd probably say I'm about 80 per cent. Just some fine-tuning now.
“I know whenever I'm fully fit, I don't think there's much that can stop me, it's just a matter of when that was going to be. Playing cricket again for the first time a few weeks ago, still riding off that wave of emotions right now.
“Hopefully in two days it can go up another level. It's just been good to play cricket and actually not have to worry about if my body's going to give way. I think that was the most important tick for me so far.”
It has been a long road back from two elbow surgeries and a lower back stress fracture for Archer, but he is philosophical about the time out. There is no bitterness or anger at the amount of cricket he has missed, including a T20 World Cup win, and that is thanks largely to the dog’s life he has been leading in Barbados.
As the owner of six dogs, Archer has been kept busy in between training sessions, looking after the pooches and their needs before his long awaited return.
“What got me through it was lots of dogs - six of them,” added Archer. “I went a bit crazy probably a month after I got back to Barbados, I got about five dogs in the space of four weeks.
“The routine kept me going - shovelling lots of poo and feeding lots of dogs! And I had my friends, my family, and the gym.
“I'm not going to be upset or bitter about how the timing's been. I think everything happens for a reason and I guess there's a reason I'm here in South Africa right now.”
