Matthew Mott, the coach for England's white-ball cricket team, has disclosed a daring strategy regarding Jofra Archer's fitness for the upcoming ICC Men's Cricket World Cup in India. The plan involves carefully managing Archer's workload throughout the tournament, despite his history of injury setbacks.



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Archer's injury woes trace back to early 2020 when a stress fracture forced him to the sidelines for the initial part of the year. Subsequently, in early 2021, he underwent surgery due to another injury sustained at home. His back stress injury in May 2022 further kept him out of action for the entire year. A recent return to international cricket in the current year saw Archer participating in seven matches (comprising four ODIs and three T20Is) against South Africa and Bangladesh. Encouragingly, he exhibited glimpses of his former prowess, highlighted by his career-best ODI figures of 6/40 during his second game back against South Africa.


"There is a high chance that we will take a risk on a proven performer [like Archer] that has done it on the world stage. We are planning for him to be available. Obviously, a lot of things have to go his way and it will be a tight timeline but with players like that you are going to give them every opportunity to prove their fitness, and so we will keep an open mind," Mott said as quoted by ICC.


"It would be a big ask for him to play every game, so we would have to target specific ones, but we are big on ball speed for India, we feel like that’s a really important asset for us to have out there and it will be good to see Mark Wood, who had such an impact in the Ashes, do the same with the white ball," Mott added.


However, the 28-year-old encountered yet another setback on the injury front. This unfortunate turn of events led to Archer's exclusion from the Ashes 2023 series and the Indian Premier League 2023. Despite these ongoing injury concerns, Mott remains optimistic about Archer's chances of making a triumphant comeback for the prestigious tournament.


England's journey in the World Cup will commence on 5 October, as they face off against New Zealand at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. This opening match sets the stage for an eagerly awaited rematch of the 2019 Final.