Jofra Archer unlikely to feature in 2023 World Cup

Jofra Archer has "run out of time" and is unlikely to feature in the 2023 World Cup. England Men's National Selector Luke Wright said that the ace paceman will only be flying to India as a travelling reserve.

The 28-year-old was England’s leading wicket-taker in the 2019 World Cup and also bowled the Super Over in the grand finale against New Zealand. Archer, however, hasn’t played much cricket in the last couple of years.

He played five games for Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League 2023 before being ruled out due to an elbow stress fracture. Archer hasn’t played any cricket since then.

"There has got to be a duty of care with Jof. We know how desperate we all are to have him - there's no doubt about that - but we've also got to get it right for him. He's been very unfortunate with these injuries… regarding the World Cup, unfortunately, we're just running out of time,” said Wright.

"He's not going to come round quite quick enough, especially for the first part of the World Cup. There is a duty of care with him. We have to make sure that long-term, we get it right because we see him as a huge asset for a long time. As much as the temptation is to try and rush him in and get him in for the start of this World Cup, unfortunately, we're just going to run out of time."

England have picked six frontline fast bowlers in their provisional World Cup 15-man squad, which can be tweaked until September 28. England, however, is hopeful that Archer could come into the mix in the second half of the tournament.

"I don't think we can, unfortunately, have him in the squad to start with," Wright said. "Best-case scenario for Jof really at the moment would probably be (that he is) available for the back-end of the tournament. That's best-case scenario, which obviously, in a squad of 15, is going to leave us quite light.

"The last thing we want to do is really to put a massive time (limit) on him and try to push him and force him into playing before he does (feel ready). We've got to get him right, first and foremost.

"But is there an opportunity or a place where potentially he could play at the back-end of a tournament, if all things go well and there was an injury? Yes, there's a potential chance. But obviously, a lot of things have still got to go right with this rehab before then.

"When you look at that squad, you cannot have a bowler that might not be available for the second half and definitely not for the first half. Unfortunately, we couldn't do it. If something miraculous happens with him, we have time to change things but I just don't see it happening. It is just coming too soon and we can't rush this decision on Jof this time."