Volkswacht Bodensee - England fast bowler Archer fears another 'stop-start' year

Archer, who signed a two-year central contract with England in October, last played a Test in February 2021.

His career has since been blighted by injuries and the 29-year-old Sussex quick missed the whole of last year's home season with a stress fracture in his right elbow.

But Archer, who rose to prominence in 2019 when he bowled the Super Over as England beat New Zealand in the 50-over World Cup final, is on the comeback trail, with hopes of featuring in June's T20 World Cup in the United States and his native Caribbean.

But he accepts the mental and physical toll of yet another breakdown might be too much to handle.

"It's been a while and honestly, I don't know if I've got another stop-start year in me. That's the truth, I don't know if I've got another one," he told the 4Cast's Athlete's Voice podcast.

"I haven't played cricket for a whole 12 months as yet. Last year I played from January to May. I think the year before that, I played maybe one or two games for Sussex, so you know I've had a whole year of nothing."

Earlier this month, England cricket chief Rob Key protectively ruled Archer out of playing a Test match again until 2025 at the earliest but said the T20 World Cup was a realistic goal for the paceman.

Archer too would love to help England defend their title but was cautious about his prospects.

"Come the first game in June I really do want to be in the team," said Archer.

"The last two years have been really stop-start, so I just think that, you know, everyone's going to just take it a bit easy.

"Worst-case scenario, I don't really want to think about this, but even if I don't make it to the World Cup for whatever reason, there's still the T20 Blast, there's still The Hundred."

L.Stucki--VB