At the start of the 2017 county-cricket season, there was a bit of buzz surrounding a Barbados-born fast bowler, Jofra Archer. His run-up wasn’t long but smooth. Unlike some others, he hardly lifted the front knee, but the outcome of the long strides was a stable base. He also seemed to efficiently use the front leg a brake, helping him to transfer the energy. In a nutshell, he was quick without seeming to bowl at rapid pace.
That deceptive pace certainly turned out to be the bugbear of Keaton Jennings, the Durham and England opener. The ball pitched on leg and middle stump before moving away to shatter the timber, which in turn went for a walk in the park. Fast-forward to IPL 2025, and those memories of watching a curly-haired Archer befuddling Jennings flooded back. The Sussex seamer did something similar to send Punjab Kings’ Priyansh Arya back to the hut. Pitched on a fullish length and around a middle-stump line, it moved away just enough to rattle the top of middle and off stump.
From 2017 to 2025 – In that eight-year period, Archer has also had a rollercoaster journey. During that phase, his feats were praised and feted. He became a World Cup winner with England and showcased his bowling prowess during an Ashes series at home. It was also the time when Archer suffered a spate of elbow injuries. Initially, it was during the 2019-20 tour of South Africa that Archer was diagnosed with an elbow injury. He went under the knife on May 27, 2021.
Unfortunately, it turned out to be a recurring problem and he had to undergo multiple elbow procedures. He also sustained a back injury in 2022. Only in the last 12 months has Archer been able to play without much pain. Although, on occasion, he still wears an elbow brace as a precautionary measure.
Since Archer’s return to the England set-up, the focus has shifted to whether he has lost a little bit of nip in his bowling. Or has he been worked out by the batters? Those question marks became louder and louder with each passing game.
When the 2025 IPL commenced, every Tom, Dick and Harry had decided that Archer’s time was up. In Rajasthan Royals’ opening game of the season, he recorded the most expensive figures in the history of IPL – 0 for 76 versus Sunrisers Hyderabad. But just raw figures don’t give a complete picture to assess a bowler’s form or skills.
The same Archer had looked like a threat with the new ball in all the 50-over Champions Trophy games this year, taking wickets upfront against Australia, Afghanistan and South Africa. His problems seemed to be related to his execution during his later spells, especially in the slog overs of an innings. Despite evidence suggesting that RR should give the new ball to Archer, the think-tank made the fatal mistake of employing him at the back-end of the Powerplay and in the death overs.
As a cricket aficionado, it was painful to watch Archer bowl all over the shop against SRH. It almost felt as if he had lost some muscle memory of bowling in the end overs. To their credit, RR rectified the mistake by using him upfront in the next four games. Yes, Archer didn’t take a wicket in RR’s second game against Kolkata Knight Riders, but he did extract consistent movement with the new ball. It was only when he came back for another spell that he once again looked bereft of belief as Quinton de Kock cracked a flurry of shots.
Archer even went on to win a Player of the Match award after bagging three wickets against PBKS. That was followed by one more rip-roaring new-ball spell, with GT’s top-order bearing the brunt of his fury. He reserved his best for Shubman Gill – An inswinger that nipped back appreciably to crash through the gap between bat and pad and onto the stumps.
He also bowled a snorter of a bumper at Jos Buttler, his England teammate. The highlight of that delivery was how nicely he had flicked the wrist to get that little bit of extra kick. Perhaps, over the last few months, that nth-minute flick of the wrist was missing from his quiver.
Archer returning to form has also raised hopes of the fast bowler once more wearing the white flannels for England. So, will he play a part in the upcoming Test series versus India? What about the Ashes in Australia? Logically, you expect the English selectors to tread with a degree of caution before picking him again in the longest format.
With his history of injuries, the selectors might select him for one Test against India, so as to observe whether his body could stand up to the rigours of bowling 18-20 overs in a day. It is also pertinent to point out that a fast bowler is akin to a Ferrari, and it would be better to use Archer in short bursts of four overs. Incidentally, back in 2019, Joe Root, then England skipper, made Archer bowl 42 overs in an innings, in the Bay Oval Test.
Even in a couple of innings in the 2019 Ashes, Archer was perhaps overused. The critics do believe that one of the reasons for Archer’s elbow injuries was because of how he had to bowl some long spells.
It is difficult to sit on a sofa and pinpoint the reason for all those injuries. But you would rather pen 1000 words on Archer charging to the crease and dismantling the off pole, rather than write about his injury issues. Fans across the cricketing spectrum would likely have similar feelings.
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