Jofra Archer 's former coach Dexter Toppin believes the fast bowler has been "overworked" by England and that his recent injury problems mean he will be unable to "bowl at 90mph as consistently" when he returns.
Archer has been struggling with a long-term elbow injury and has not played for England since March.
He recently underwent surgery on the injury for a second time and has been ruled out of action until at least the summer.
Since making his England debut in 2019, Archer has become a key member of the side in all formats, with his combination of genuine pace, hostility and remarkable accuracy making him a potent weapon.
However, there have long been concerns about England overworking Archer, with Michael Holding describing his workload on his Test debut as "abuse".
Archer bowled a total of 44 overs in the match, more than any other England bowler, and Holding warned England that using Archer that much was "not sustainable" and would lead to a drop in his pace.
Despite Holding's warning, Archer ended up bowling more overs than any other England player in 2019, a remarkable feat given he only made his debut in May.
Archer infamously bowled 42 overs in one innings in just his fifth Test match and he was then sidelined in February 2020 after suffering a stress fracture in his elbow.
He has struggled with his elbow ever since, playing just six of England's 26 Test matches since the beginning of 2020, and he missed the recent T20 World Cup and the Ashes due to the injury.
Toppin, who coached Archer when the quick was part of the Barbados youth side, has lamented England's treatment of the 26-year-old and the fact he will not be able to play in the upcoming Test series against the West Indies in March.
"I really hoped that Jofra would be ready to play in Barbados in the Test series," Toppin told the Telegraph.
"When Jofra got into the England set-up, I think he was probably overworked. At the time I thought that he probably shouldn’t be bowling some of the overs he was - but England were desperate to win. The English wanted success and found a guy who could win games for them."
Toppin also believes Archer will not "be able to bowl at 90mph as consistently" when he does return to the England side.
However, he is confident that Archer will be able to adapt if he does lose some of his pace, adding: "I’m not worried - I think he’s still got a lot more in him.
"I don’t know pace-wise, but I think that being a smart bowler at this age, he can develop and get better.
"If you lose pace you’ve got to have something to fall back on - whether that’s swinging the ball, finding a good length to strangle batsmen, a lot of variations. There’s a lot of things that he’s got to bring to his game to make sure he’s successful."
