English right-arm quick Jofra Archer has seen a good comeback into cricket after being out of the game for two years.
Archer made his mark in international cricket four years ago, featuring in the World Cup 2019, Ashes and the IPL.
With the elbow injury Archer has not been able to play and perform at the highest level, he returned to the national side against South Africa in January with some game time in the SA20 league.
In his second game back, Archer completed his England comeback in South Africa earlier this year, going 6 for 40. The next month, in March, he headed to Bangladesh. There he bowled with strong pace the entire time and concluded the trip with nine wickets in five games.
The Ashes and the World Cup are separated by more time this year than they were during the difficult 2019 summer, but they are still close enough that victory in the former can only be good for the latter. Archer is well aware of this given his experiences from four years ago.
Since it has been almost two years since his last first-class game, Archer is realistic about his chances of playing in the Ashes. He previously stated that he would be content to play in one game in the five-Test series, and stated last weekend that "nothing has changed" in that sense.
"It's a huge year," Archer said just before his return to the Mumbai Indians playing XI last weekend.
"I think everything is intertwined; everything bounces off everything else. If I can get through [the IPL] then I'll be in a good position to play in the Ashes, and then everything else will follow with it."
With some "extra work" during the IPL, Archer had wanted to increase his workload, but his most recent ailment has complicated things. He left for Belgium earlier this month to visit a doctor after complaining of soreness after making his Mumbai Indians debut.
The ECB has been keeping a tight eye on his progress and even temporarily sent physio Steve Gryphon to India.
"Let me get through this year and see how the body's feeling, but I don't plan to give up any of the three. I may have to manage my workloads for at least a year, and that's absolutely fine with me. But I want to make the most of all the cricket that is available to me," Archer said.
However, Archer views himself as a player who can excel in all three formats of the game and help England win Test matches.
"I still want to play as much red-ball [cricket] as possible," he added. "As of yet, I haven't really considered attempting to drop any of the formats.
"I'm really, really happy with how everything has gone so far," he said. "It's still pretty tough, coming back and trying to manage expectations, and everything else that comes with it. But my brief experience has been really good.
"It really has been great [to be back around the England team]. Just like here at Mumbai, everyone has welcomed me back with open arms, and I'm glad I got those opportunities to try and win some games for the team," he said.
The captain of England, Ben Stokes, has stated that he would want to have at least one true fast available to him in addition to a pool of at least eight healthy seam bowlers from which to chose for each Test.
Stokes remarked earlier this month: "I believe having the option to have someone who can bowl beyond 90mph is what every captain wants.
