- Archer has not played a Test match in more than four years amid several injuries
- His county coach Paul Farbrace had urged England to resist urge to call him up
- England go into the second Test with a 1-0 lead after a thrilling win at Headingley
Jofra Archer has been added to England’s Test squad to face India next week.
Archer, 30, has not played a Test match for more than four years but returned to first-class action with Sussex at Durham earlier this week.
The 2019 World Cup winner got through 18 overs in the only innings in which Sussex bowled, but England’s selectors clearly saw enough to merit a recall.
He joins the 14-man squad selected for the first Test victory over India at Headingley, which Ben Stokes’ team won by five wickets.
Archer took the most recent of his 42 Test wickets in his 13th appearance, dismissing now India captain Shubman Gill in a 10-wicket defeat in Ahmedabad in February 2021.
His preparation for Edgbaston next week involved getting Durham batsmen ducking and weaving on a sluggish Chester-le-Street pitch, returning figures of one for 32 in the process.
England have called Jofra Archer into their side for the second Test match against India
Archer, who returned to red ball cricket in the week, has not played a Test match in more than four years
He will, though, join Ben Stokes’ side at Edgbaston despite the advice of his Sussex coach
However, his Sussex coach Paul Farbrace claimed England should resist the temptation to fast track one of their genuine 90-mile-per-hour bowlers.
‘The conversation we had was that he would come and play in this game and then he’d be assessed at the end of this game,’ said Farbrace, formerly England’s assistant coach.
‘If I was in their situation my honest answer would be that I wouldn’t pick Jofra for the next Test match. I would save him for the third Test match.
‘I’d pick the same team for the next game and bring Jofra back into the third game of the series. That’s how I would manage him but I’m no longer involved in that. If they choose to ask my opinion that would be my view.’
Archer’s inclusion increases England’s options for the second of five Tests in seven weeks.
Chris Woakes looked off-colour in Leeds, returning his second worst match figures in a home Test, but has great knowledge of Edgbaston, his county home with Warwickshire.
Brydon Carse improved in the second innings at Headingley and although Josh Tongue was ineffective for periods, his ability to wipe out the tail – taking three wickets in 10 balls in the first innings and three in four in the second – has provided England’s attack with another dimension.
England also have Essex seamer Sam Cook and Surrey all-rounder Jamie Overton as bowling options in their squad.
