Ashes blow for England with Archer sidelined until 2022

England’s Ashes campaign has been dealt a significant blow months before the first ball is bowled, with Jofra Archer to be sidelined for the remainder of the year due to his injured right elbow.

The England and Wales Cricket Board confirmed the news on Thursday, after the fast bowler underwent further scans on his elbow last week.

Those scans revealed a recurrence of a stress fracture in the joint.

It will see Archer miss the current five Test series against India, the ICC T20 World Cup in October and November, and the Vodafone Ashes, which are scheduled to begin in Brisbane on December 8.

The 26-year-old had an operation in May to remove a bone fragment from his elbow, in a bid to salvage his hopes of participating in the ICC tournament and making the trip to Australia.

He then returned to play in England domestic cricket, taking the field for two white-ball matches for Sussex.

It was during those matches that Archer became aware of "increasing discomfort" in his elbow, a statement from the ECB said.

Archer will now take an extended break from cricket before returning for a medical review in several months’ time.

The 26-year-old’s painful right elbow has been a source of concern for the past 18 months.

Prior to the operation in May, it had been hoped that a combination of rest and cortisone injections would be enough, but that course of action was exposed as insufficient during Archer’s aborted first-class comeback for Sussex at the start of the UK summer.

That was the latest in a series of setbacks for Archer, who was ruled out of the Indian Premier League earlier this year and subsequently went under the knife to have a fragment of glass removed from the middle finger on his right hand following a freak incident involving a fish tank.

He was diagnosed with a low-grade stress fracture in his elbow during the 2019-20 tour of South Africa, though his current complaint is said not to be directly linked to that ailment.

Vodafone Men's Ashes v England

First Test: December 8-12, The Gabba

Second Test: December 16-20, Adelaide Oval

Third Test: December 26-30, MCG

Fourth Test: January 5-9, SCG

Fifth Test: January 14-18, Perth Stadium