Recurring elbow injury has put Jofra Archer’s Test career in serious doubt: Michael Vaughan 

Former England captain Michael Vaughan feels that Jofra Archer’s repeated elbow injuries could bring a premature end to his Test career. Vaughan pointed out that the England fast bowler could explore a career as a limited-overs specialist in the near future.

On Thursday, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) confirmed that Jofra Archer has been ruled out of action for the remainder of 2021. He will thus miss the second half of IPL 2021, the T20 World Cup as well as the Ashes in Australia.

The ECB confirmed that Jofra Archer recently underwent scans on his injured right elbow, which revealed a recurrence of his stress fracture. Writing in his column for The Telegraph, Vaughan opined that the latest injury setback is a major blow to Archer's hopes of becoming a renowned Test bowler. Vaughan wrote:

“You have to fear for Jofra Archer’s Test career now. Graeme Swann had floating bone fragments removed from his elbow and was eventually forced to retire because of chronic problems with the joint. Archer is younger and will receive the best care, and hopefully, he will make a full recovery given time but it is a worrying development.”

“At least cricketers have an alternative now and if the elbow is that bad, why would he want to risk further injury by bowling 25 overs a day in Test cricket? Players can now earn a very good living in Twenty20 and Archer is one of the world’s best white-ball bowlers," he further explained.

Jofra Archer played in a couple of Tests in India earlier this year and also featured in all five T20Is before being ruled out of the ODI series. He hasn’t played international cricket since.

It’s a huge blow for @JofraArcher & England https://t.co/kccGKZ9dBa @TelegraphSport #Cricket

— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) August 5, 2021

England will have to figure out how to claim 20 wickets in Australia without Jofra Archer: Michael Vaughan

Vaughan further pointed out that the one reason England were keen on having Jofra Archer in the side for The Ashes was because genuine pace has troubled Australia in recent times. He elaborated:

“The one element you need in Australia is pace. All the teams that have won there in recent times have had a couple of genuine fast bowlers. Joe Root and his Test team were already in a precarious position and now they have to work out how they are going to take 20 wickets and score enough runs to put Australia under pressure."

“We have batsmen who do not have the skills or the mentality to play at this level and it is a question of how do England get themselves in a position over the next five weeks against India to build confidence to play Australia?" Vaughan continued.

According to Vaughan, England are currently over-dependent on conditions to get wickets and their feeble batting isn’t helping matters. The former captain concluded in his column:

“You can have five Jofra Archers, but if you keep scoring 183, you are not going to beat Australia. We all turned up at Trent Bridge on Thursday hoping it would be a dark gloomy day and the ball would hoop around for Jimmy Anderson. That is not how you win consistently in Test cricket. You can’t rely on clouds to win you Test matches.”

We're gutted for you and all behind you, @JofraArcher.

— England Cricket (@englandcricket) August 5, 2021

England managed to claim four Indian wickets on Day 2 in Nottingham after being bowled out for 183 on the opening day of the Test.