England still sweating on Jofra Archer's fitness for T20 World Cup

The 28-year-old has not played professional cricket since a recurrence of an elbow injury at the Indian Premier League in May.

He has been plagued by injuries since bursting onto the international scene by helping England win the 50-over World Cup in 2019 before starring in that summer’s Ashes.

Archer did train with England during their white-ball tour of the Caribbean in December and Rob Key, managing director of England men’s cricket, is optimistic he can play a part in their T20 World Cup title defence.

“Our plan is the T20 World Cup, building him up slowly,” Key told the BBC’s Tailenders podcast.

“I saw him bowl in the Caribbean and it was like he’d never been away.

“I don’t want to get back to this thing where he plays and then goes down again.

“He wanted to play in the IPL, but we said not this time. Hopefully the years he has missed he can add to the end of his career. He is such a talent.”

England begin the T20 World Cup, which will be held in the West Indies and the United States, against Scotland in Barbados on June 4.

READ MORE: Usman Khawaja launches charity T-shirt with hopes to aid those affected by Palestine conflict