The injury-plagued fast bowler’s last Test appearance was 1,583 days ago on 25 February 2021 against India in Ahmedabad.
After Archer’s first red-ball match in more than four years, Sussex coach Paul Farbrace admitted he would have held the 30-year-old back for the third Test at Lord’s.
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“The whole Jofra plan has been a long time in the making, where it’s been about building up, building up, all the way throughout,” Key said at an event for Test match sponsors Rothesay in London.
“He could be one of the best bowlers we’ve had. And you only do that by doing it in Test cricket. Hopefully in the next few years we’ll be fortunate enough to see Jofra have a chance to stake that claim.”
The plan to get him back to Test cricket has been long in the making, with England restricting the Barbados-born bowler to white-ball cricket for the past 13 months.
It is Archer’s desire to play the longest format again that has also meant Key has never doubted he would return even though he has had offers to become a white-ball specialist.
“We’ve had lots and lots of conversations over the last year about how you map it out to get there, working with him. In the years gone by, you had bowling coaches, strength and conditioning coaches, physios and they don’t always work together in English cricket. It’s a combination of all those people having a say and having a plan and so everyone has worked bloody hard with Jofra to get to this point and he’s itching to go.
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In an ideal world, Archer would have started the County Championship season with Sussex and built up his return to Test cricket by playing several rounds of domestic first-class cricket.
A broken thumb he sustained at the IPL delayed his comeback further. But every step was taken to forensically monitor Archer’s red-ball return at Durham.
Moreover, Neil Killeen, England’s elite pace bowling coach, was at the match and spoke to Sussex bowling coach James Kirtley every day to discuss Archer’s progress.
“Jofra is such a talent,” Key said. “He was straight on the money.
“He’s a pretty pure talent, there’s not a lot of moving parts to his action. He knows exactly what he’s doing. I think he’ll get better and better throughout the Test series.”
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