LONDON: England fast bowler Jofra Archer will not rush his return from a ‘career-defining’ elbow surgery in case it affects his primary targets of playing the Twenty20 World Cup in India and the subsequent Ashes series against Australia later this year, the 26-year-old has said.

Archer underwent surgery on his right elbow on Friday and has been ruled out of England’s two-Test series against New Zealand starting next month.

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) will review his progress next month with the bowler looking uncertain for England’s five-test home series against India in August and September.

“One thing I am determined about post-elbow operation is not to rush my comeback because my primary focus is to be playing for England in the Twenty20 World Cup and Ashes later this year,” Archer wrote in his column for the Daily Mail. “Those are my targets. If I come back before then and manage to play in the home Test series against India — then fine, so be it. If I don’t, I am quite prepared to sit out the summer.

“The way I am looking at things is that I would rather miss a few weeks of a year so that I have a few more years in my career.”

Barbados-born Archer has been plagued by the injury since early 2020 and it kept him out of this year’s Indian Premier League.

“I just want to get this injury sorted once and for all and that’s why I’m not looking that far ahead or at dates for a return to action -- because if I don’t get this right, I won’t play any cricket. Period,” he wrote. “I am not going to do myself any good by coming back before I’m fully fit, so I will take my time and do what is best for me and my life.”

After the New Zealand Tests, England play white-ball series against Sri Lanka and Pakistan before their five-Test series against India. The T20 World Cup is scheduled to take place in October and November in India and the Ashes series begins in Australia in December.

Archer is an established match-winner in the shortest format of the game and would be a certain pick for the T20 showpiece. He is also considered a vital weapon for the Ashes.

“The bandages are off and I have spoken to the consultant since, but everything is still very fresh and I remain sore after what was a career-defining moment last Friday,” the speedster added.

Published in Dawn, May 28th, 2021