England suffer major setback ahead of Ashes as Jofra Archer ruled out of summer

Fast bowler Jofra Archer was ruled out of the summer, England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) confirmed on Tuesday.

As ECB announced England’s squad for their one-off Test against Ireland, Archer was out of the much-awaited English summer, including The Ashes, after recent scans revealed he had sustained a stress fracture to his right elbow. “He will now spend time with the England and Sussex medical teams, who will work on his injury management,” read ECB’s official release.

England also received a boost as Jonny Bairstow made a comeback to the English side for the first time since August. ECB confirmed that the Yorkshire wicketkeeper-batsman had recovered fully following his broken left leg and dislocated ankle in a freak accident while playing golf. The injury also saw him miss the T20 World Cup last year, which England won by beating Pakistan in the final at Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG).

“Warwickshire seamer Chris Woakes returns to the Test squad for the first time since March 2022, and if selected, this will be his first Test appearance on home soil since August 2020. After taking a break from the tour of New Zealand, Durham fast bowler Mark Wood is back in the squad.

“Surrey batter Ollie Pope has been officially confirmed as England’s vice-captain with immediate effect,” ECB’s release read further.

Commenting on the selected squad, ECB Managing Director for England Men's Cricket, Rob Key, said,” We are looking forward to the summer ahead and getting into the swing of things, starting with a good test against Ireland. It was a seriously tough decision to leave Ben Foakes out of the squad. He has been excellent for England in the last year, but Jonny Bairstow is one of the best players in the world whose performances last summer epitomised what we are about.”

Archer, who made his Mumbai Indians (MI) debut in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) season, recently returned to England after the elbow injury struck him again.

“It has been a frustrating and upsetting period for Jofra Archer. He was making good progress until a recurrence of the elbow injury, which kept him out for an extended period previously. We wish him the best of luck with his recovery. I’m sure we will see Jofra back to his best and winning games for England, whatever the format. Hopefully, sooner rather than later. I would like to wish the players every success, especially those returning after some time away," the ECB managing director added.

The one-off Test between England and Ireland will begin on June 1 and will be played at Lord’s Cricket Ground. After this, Ben Stokes-led England will host Australia in a five-match Ashes, starting from June 16 at Edgbaston.

England’s 15-man squad for Test vs Ireland: Ben Stokes (c), James Anderson, Jonathan Bairstow, Stuart Broad, Harry Brook, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Dan Lawrence, Jack Leach, Ollie Pope, Matthew Potts, Ollie Robinson, Joe Root, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood