In the end it was just one wicket. Yet after a 1,595-day, injury-ravaged hiatus from Test cricket, it was a wicket Jofra Archer must have thought might never come.
After four years of operations and rehab sessions that would have seen him shed blood, sweat and tears, Archer took just three balls of his comeback Test here against India to remind everybody what all the fuss was about.
In one moment, all the frustration and doubt about ever returning to this stage evaporated as Archer produced a delivery that proved too quick and just too good for Yashasvi Jaiswal.
The scream, the face and the celebratory sprint to his team-mates said it all – one of England’s fastest bowlers was back and he was loving every minute.
JOFRA ARCHER IS BACK!
In the first over of his return to Test cricket he takes the wicket of Jaiswal - pic.twitter.com/sx363Aw5UA
— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) July 11, 2025
It was a crucial wicket, too, reducing India to 13 for one in reply to England’s first-innings 387 on the second day of this third Test. By stumps, Ben Stokes’ team had their opponents 145 for three.
However, it was the return of Archer, on the ground where he made his Test debut against Australia six years ago, that proved the most compelling narrative and one that only cynics would sneer at given just how hard the 30-year-old has had to work since making his last Test appearance at Ahmedabad in February 2021.
Back then, Archer’s final delivery of the match registered 82mph on the speed gun.
This time he struck 93.6mph with his fourth ball. It was the quickest of the series so far, while his opening spell, which averaged 89.8mph, was the third-quickest by an England opening bowler since ball-by-ball data began in 2006.
Having come into this series with just 18 overs in red-ball cricket under his belt this summer for Sussex, it was some entrance and some leap of faith by England to hand him the new ball.
The Lord’s crowd knew it, too, with the atmosphere cranked up along with the speed gun as the video screen operators began flashing up the speeds of every Archer delivery that hit 90mph or above. At one point during that opening spell, it was every ball.
"That's what crowds come to see"
Ravi Shastri describes the atmosphere at Lord's when Jofra Archer took that wicket pic.twitter.com/S13kgWbzh9
— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) July 11, 2025
Stuart Broad, his former teammate who is now in the Sky Sports commentary box, captured the mood perfectly when saying: “Archer bowled a five-over spell of drama, theatre, excitement and joy.”
By the end of a day that had seen him start out with a wicket maiden, he had sent down 10 overs, including three maidens, for the cost of 22 runs.
His speeds, understandably, were down in his third spell. Yet they were still comfortably quicker than any other bowler in this match – including India’s Jasprit Bumrah, who had blown away England earlier in the day.
There is, of course, a bigger picture here. England hope this is the first step on Archer’s journey towards this winter’s Ashes in Australia, where the dream will be to have him in the same squad as Mark Wood, a bowler who is even quicker.
Yet it has taken a lot to get to this stage, with England having meticulously planned this comeback to the nth degree – mapping out every training session and game Archer would play between his return to international white-ball cricket last summer and now in a PDF spreadsheet.
Speaking back in his native Barbados in June of last year during the T20 World Cup, Archer had admitted: “Probably the only thing they haven’t planned out is my showers.”
Jasprit Bumrah earned a five-wicket haul earlier in the day at Lord’s (Photo: Getty)There was an admission then, too, as he sat on the outfield of the Windward Cricket Club, that he owed England something having been retained on a full central contract worth around £1m a year since his injury nightmare began back in January 2020 with the right-elbow issue that has required four operations since.
“Sometimes you feel like a burden not playing,” he had said. “I’ve seen a few comments, people saying: ‘He’s on the longest paid holiday I’ve ever seen.’ You try to not let it get to you.”
Now, though, is the time to look ahead. Joe Root, who brought up his 37th Test century at the start of this second day, perhaps summed it up best.
“It’s great,” he said of Archer’s return. “The noise, the pure joy everyone has seeing him back in whites, the genuine excitement to see him playing Test cricket again.
“It created a great atmosphere. Bowling 94mph, getting a wicket first over – that’s the kind of player he is.
“He’s X-factor. It’s a bit like India turning to Bumrah. It’s great to see him being so impactful.”
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