London: An accident while cleaning his fish tank was the cause of Jofra Archer’s hand injury. It had troubled him during the series against India along with an elbow issue. A glass fragment was found lodged in the England pacer’s right middle finger that had to be operated. However, Jofra Archer is expected to be fit soon, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) said Tuesday.
England’s director of cricket Ashley Giles made this revelation while giving an update on Archer. The latter underwent the surgery Monday. The elbow problem has ruled him out of this year’s IPL.
“They (surgeons) have operated and they found a small fragment of glass still in attendance. It obviously healed but there was part of the fish tank still in his finger,” Giles was quoted as saying by ‘ESPNcricinfo’.
“This is going to sound like an awful conspiracy… But it’s true. Yeah, he was cleaning at home. He’s got a fish tank. He dropped the fish tank, cut his hand, and he’s been in surgery…” Giles added.
Archer suffered a cut on his right hand’s middle finger in the accident that took place at his home at Hove in January. It happened prior to the tour of India.
The finger healed sufficiently for Archer to take part in both the Test and T20I legs of the tour. However, the England management decided it would be prudent to investigate the wound.
“He’s come out of it well. It was managed through India, he was treated when he arrived. It wasn’t an open wound on that finger. It didn’t stop him playing, but given he came home for an injection on his elbow, he went to a specialist because the finger was still a bit stiff,” Giles informed.
Archer took four wickets from the two Test matches. He also had seven scalps in the T20 Internationals against India. Then he returned home after the completion of the shortest format. Archer, who has 86 wickets spread across all formats, will however, miss the IPL beginning April 9. Bought by Rajasthan Royals in the 2018 auction for Rs 7.2 crore, he justified the high price by delivering some of the best spells of fast bowling in the tournament. He finished as the ‘Most Valuable Player’ in the 2020 edition of the IPL in the UAE.
Giles also talked about Archer’s elbow injury. “Through the T20 series (against India), the condition worsened. He couldn’t play without some form of pain relief. We need to manage the elbow carefully. We’ve got a really good medical team. We don’t know what’s going to happen yet in this next couple of months. But our priority is to get both of these things right and get him back on the field,” Giles asserted.