England still unable to get enough of Jofra Archer after latest elbow flareup

There are few more alluring fast bowlers than Jofra Archer. Think back to that breakthrough summer four years ago, Archer tearing through the World Cup and Ashes campaigns like they were crepe paper, hitting stumps, helmets and outside edges at high velocity and sparking talk of a generational talent.

England’s supporters have certainly taken Archer to their hearts since that switch from his native Barbados, greeting every appearance with a reworked version of the Depeche Mode classic Just Can’t Get Enough. In full flight, cruising towards the crease before unwinding from tight into the stumps, that hyperextensive right elbow adding an extra crack of the whip, he causes the world’s best players problems.

The problem in recent times, however, has been that Archer himself cannot get enough, or at least catch a break. Since early 2020, when that elbow first started to cause him pain and a rarely seen stress fracture in the joint was diagnosed, England’s men have played 139 internationals across all formats, with Archer featuring in only 27 of them.

As such, it wasn’t jaw-dropping on Tuesday when news emerged from India that Archer is to end his time with Mumbai Indians early. He will now take a fortnight’s rest back home and then resume rehab on the issue that has undergone five procedures in the past two years, forced long, cruel absences and is still causing discomfort.

Sussex, Archer’s county, were told at the start of the season that they would not see him before the Test summer because of his Indian Premier League commitments. But since then there has been a clandestine trip to Belgium to see his elbow specialist, Roger van Riet, and only five appearances out of a possible 10 in the IPL. The speed gun, by which Archer