Jofra Archer made his return to cricket after not playing for 541 days (Picture: Sportzpics/Shutterstock)
Jofra Archer brought the wow factor on his long-awaited return to cricket in South Africa’s new SA20 League last night.
The England paceman, dogged by elbow and back injuries in recent years, had not played for 541 days but took just three balls to dismiss Wihan Lubbe as he kicked off with a wicket maiden.
Archer, 27, later took two wickets in as many balls to finish with three for 27 in helping MI Cape Town to an eight-wicket win over Paarl Royals, whose top scorer was England white-ball skipper Jos Buttler.
All in all it was a very promising start to an Ashes year for a bowler who last played for England in March 2021. Archer is expected to play one more game before joining Buttler’s ODI side for a three-match series with South Africa.
England Test captain Ben Stokes tweeted: ‘BUZZING BUZZING BUZZING to see @JofraArcher back on the field.’
Former England seamer Darren Gough told Sky Sports: ‘England have been excellent in the last 12 months, but add Archer in and it leads to exciting times. What we saw in his first over was, “Wow, he’s back”.’
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He hadn’t played for England since March 2021.
