Archer out of South Africa T20Is

Monitoring Desk

LONDON: England fast bowler Jofra Archer has been ruled out of the three-match Twenty20 series against South Africa next month because of an elbow injury. The 24-year-old has returned to England after the 3-1 Test series win against the Proteas in which he played the first match but missed the next three. Archer will now focus on recovering from soreness in his right elbow.

He will be replaced by Saqib Mahmood, who will remain in South Africa after the three-match one-day series. The ODIs take place on 4, 7 and 9 February before three T20s on 12, 14 and 16 February. Archer, in his column for the Daily Mail, also admitted he could be a doubt for the two Tests in Sri Lanka in March, although he denied he was not committed to the longer form of the game. Archer said: “Do I want to play Test cricket? Yeah, yeah. I’ve got a few milestones I’d like to achieve – so I very much want to play Test cricket.” (BBC)