Before the third Test against India at Lord’s Cricket Ground, England captain Ben Stokes spoke on the increasing speculation regarding Jofra Archer’s return to the playing XI. Although Archer had not been included in the team for the series opener at Headingley, his return to the team for the second Test at Edgbaston had raised hopes of a comeback.
Although included in the squad, the pacer was not selected in the playing XI in Birmingham with England choosing a pace attack of Josh Tongue, Chris Woakes, and Brydon Carse. After suffering a humbling 336-run loss at Edgbaston, however, England might have to rethink their bowling personnel with Archer’s name being in contention again.
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Stokes stressed that it is still a priority to manage the workload of Archer because the pacer has been fighting injuries for the last couple of seasons. The 30-year-old has played just 13 Test matches since his debut in 2019, taking 42 wickets with three five-wicket performances.
“That’ll be a decision we have to make, seeing how everyone comes together. We’ve had him here this week to get around the group and build him up with his workloads and everything. So, everyone’s being considered for the game at Lord’s,” Stokes said in the post-match press conference.
India will be boosted by the return of Jasprit Bumrah for the Lord’s Test, as mentioned by Shubman Gill. Following England chasing 371 at Leeds to take a 1-0 series advantage, India bounced back strongly in Birmingham to even the series.
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With the five-match series standing at 1-1, both teams go into the Lord’s Test hoping to maintain the dominance and England might just look to call on Archer to try and swing the momentum back in their direction.
