STOKES BACKING PACE ACE TO ROLL BACK THE YEARS

Archer's ready to give India a rocket

- By Mike Walters

BEN STOKES says Jofra Archer can be as destructive as the warhead who exploded on the Test stage in 2019 when he makes his encore at Lord’s today.

To nobody’s surprise, but universal excitement, 95mph Archer’s comeback was confirmed when he was named in England’s XI for the third Rothesay Test against India.

And Stokes believes he can make the same impact as the super-over hero at the World Cup final and whiplash-pace bowler who roughed up the Aussies in the Ashes six years ago. A veritable directory of injuries - mainly stress fractures to his elbow and back - means Archer is playing his first home Test since 2019 and winning only his 14th cap more than four years since the 13th in India.