Kevin Pietersen fears Jofra Archer's England Test career may be over after injury setback

Former England captain Kevin Pietersen believes Jofra Archer may never play a Test match again after the fast bowler suffered a stress fracture of the back.

It is a heartbreaking setback for Archer, who has not played for England since March last year and has already been forced to undergo two operations in a bid to sort out a chronic elbow problem. This latest injury has ruled him out of action for the entire summer and Pietersen believes it is "difficult to imagine him recovering from this to play long-form cricket again".

In his latest Betway column, Pietersen said: "It's terrible news for poor Jofra Archer that he’ll miss the whole summer. He's shown moments of brilliance for England and other teams and it's just a horrible blow for him.

"It's difficult to imagine him recovering from this to play long-form cricket again, that's the horrible reality. Hopefully he can still carve out a top-level white-ball career."

Archer is one of eight seamers who were not considered for selection for the first Test of the summer against New Zealand due to a variety of fitness issues. However, he is one of five recovering from stress fractures of the back and one of three who were sidelined with the issue this month alone.

And Pietersen believes this worrying trend is simply a result of seamers not bowling enough, claiming they are "molly-coddled in between games" and "can't cope with tough, long days with the ball because they're not used to it".

Video: This England (The Independent)

Countryfile - Trailer

Lucifer star Tom Ellis as Gary on British sitcom Miranda

Armadillo sings 'Amazing grace' during his performance of Masked Singer

Kelsey Grammer says Frasier reboot will feature major changes

iCarly trailer (2007)

Trailer: