England’s fast bowler Jofra Archer has been at the receiving end of the criticism from England cricket greats over choosing to play for Rajasthan Royals (RR) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) over Test series opener against New Zealand. Alastair Cook, Michael Vaughan, Michael Atherton and others had criticised the move and even questioned the value of an England cricket central contract. While Archer was expected to return to the squad for the second Test at Kennington Oval, London, head coach Brendon McCullum has said that the Barbados-pacer is doubtful to return straightaway.
"Jofra we need to assess," England head coach Brendon McCullum told BBC Sport. "He's having a little bit of a break at the moment.
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"We've seen in the past we can leave Jof to his own devices, work on his game and follow a plan that has been set. He turns up having that followed that plan to a tee.
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"When we see him we'll work out where he sits and if he's available for the second Test. If not, we'll look at the third Test."
Last year, in the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy 2025, Archer returned to Test cricket a four-year absence due to his struggle with injuries. Later, he missed the final two Tests of the Ashes 2025-26 due to a side strain.
The second Test is scheduled to start on June 17. Archer will have more than two weeks of time since the Qualifier 2 to get back in shape. If he misses the second Test, he will be assessed for the third Test which is scheduled to take place at Nottingham, Trent Bridge, starting June 25.
Archer’s run in IPL 2026
Archer was retained by Royals for Rs 12.50 crore. In the recently-concluded IPL 2026, he was one of the purple cap contenders, bagging 25 wickets from 16 games. The English pacer’s Royals were knocked out of IPL 2026 in Qualifier 2 by Gujarat Titans (GT) on May 29.
England’s 12 for Lord’s Test
In the absence of Brydon Carse who has suffered a wrist injury, England recalled Ollie Robinson. They also have uncapped Sonny Baker in the side but Ben Stokes will be inclined to play off-spinner Shoaib Bashir at Lord’s considering what he did against India last year. The other two pacers in the lineup are Gus Atkinson and Josh Tongue.