Jofra Archer ‘went to a dark place’ as England bowler feared his cricket career was over

Jofra Archer admits he ‘went to a dark place’ last year as he feared his cricket career was over due to reoccurring injury issues.

Archer made a brilliant start to his international career, taking 42 wickets in his first 13 Tests and helping England win the 50-over World Cup in 2019.

But injuries began to become a problem for the Barbados-born star, with Archer undergoing two elbow operations since he last played for England over a year ago.

There have been fears that Archer would never return at an international level and may walk away from Test cricket to concentrate on the less physically demanding white-ball formats.

Archer admits it crossed his mind that his England career was over but says he is now confident he is in a position to revive his career and put the injury nightmare behind him.

‘I find myself in an unfamiliar place as I build towards the start of the T20 Blast this month – from a fitness perspective, I cannot believe how good I feel,’ Archer wrote in a column for the Daily Mail.

‘Am I confident things are where I would like them to be ahead of Sussex’s opening Twenty20 fixture against Glamorgan on May 26? Absolutely.

‘After my first operation last May, my right elbow felt no different at all. Obviously, I wasn’t going to fully know whether it had been successful until I started bowling, but what I can say is that things immediately felt different after my second one in December.

‘Now, nearly five months down the line, it’s a relief the way things are.

‘In a situation like this, when you are forced to have operations, you do think about whether you are going to play cricket again, whether you’re going to play all formats even.

‘But the ECB gave me the assurance and peace of mind that they wanted me around for a