Archer is in range for Test comeback

ENGLAND paceman _ Jofra Archer could make his Test return as soon as next month’s second match against India, while the door has been kept ajar for Jacob Bethell to force his way into the series opener.

- BY RORY DOLLARD

A 14-man squad will travel to Headingley for the first Test, with Chris Woakes, Brydon Carse, Jamie Overton and Bethell all returning after missing the season’s curtain-raiser against Zimbabwe last month.

Archer was not considered for duty due to a broken thumb, the latest in a long sequence of fitness issues that have seen him exiled from the longer format for more than four years.

But the eagerness to see the X-factor back in whites remains undiminished, particularly with an Ashes winter coming up.

A potential route that sees him back in time to play at Edgbaston at the start of July has been mapped out, with a lowkey outing for Sussex’s second XI followed by a Rothesay County Championship game against Durham from June 22.

Should he come through both assignments unscathed, the path could be clear for him to finally begin the longawaited second chapter of a Test career that began with a bang against Australia in 2019.