England Test captain Joe Root has blamed Indian Premier League (IPL) and Big Bash League (BBL) for Jofra Archer being ruled out of action for at least three months. Commenting on Archer’s elbow injury, Root said that he hasn’t been over bowled in international cricket.
“I wouldn’t say he’s been over bowled. You look at the amount of cricket he’s played before he played for England, he’s played a huge amount,” Root said.
“An important part of it now is the amount of cricket there is, it’s pretty full-on if you’re playing all three formats. Chuck an IPL in there as well and the Big Bash and stuff he’s played beforehand, that’s a lot of cricket,” he added.
Root’s statement does come as a surprise as he hasn’t played any form of franchise cricket since his international debut. In fact, he has bowled over 400 overs since May. He has been suffering from one or the other issue right since then and recently missed the last three Tests against South Africa.
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After his debut, Archer played World Cup 2019 and four Tests in Ashes 2019. He then played two Tests against New Zealand. Archer hasn’t played any ODI or T20I since WC final as the board has been managing his workload since his debut.
Archer was diagnosed with a stress fracture in his elbow last week. It has ruled him out of IPL 2020 and the upcoming tour of Sri Lanka. He is expected to be back for the home Tests against West Indies that take place in June. There can be a case when England might also advise Archer to skip IPL in future.
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In his absence, England will rely on Mark Wood and Stuart Broad to do the job. Senior pacer James Anderson has also declared himself fit for the series but he is unlikely to be selected for the two Test matches.
England play Sri Lanka in two Tests from March 19 to 31.