England’s demoralising Ashes tour lurched to a fresh low as their player of the series, Jofra Archer, was ruled out with the latest in a long line of injuries.
Archer will play no part in the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne or the New Year clash in Sydney after being diagnosed with a left side strain.
The 30-year-old seamer spent four years battling a variety of fitness issues, including stress fractures of the back and right elbow, but has been superb since making a long-awaited red-ball return against India over the summer.
Now, after playing each of the first three Tests against Australia he has succumbed again.
He joined the squad at training on Christmas Eve at the MCG, but played no part in practice and a spokesperson later confirmed he was out for the remainder of the trip.
That is sure to lead to question marks over Archer’s future.
In the short term, he had been inked in for a leading role at the T20 World Cup and must now await the results of additional scans on his return to the United Kingdom. In the long term, there are now fresh concerns over his body’s ability to deal with the demands of the five-day game.
Archer recently signed a new two-year deal with the ECB but this latest breakdown, after being managed with an excess of caution on his return to action, raises alarm bells.
He has bowled a total of 80 overs in the games at Perth, Brisbane and Adelaide, taking nine wickets at 27.11 and maintaining the lowest strike-rate in the touring attack.
In the third Test, he took five for 53 in the first innings and scored 51 to emerge as shining light in an increasingly horrendous tour.
