‘It is great to see him back running with the ball in his hand’ - England Test skipper on Jofra Archer’s return

England Test skipper Ben Stokes has welcomed the return of Jofra Archer and hopes to see him fully recovered for The Ashes series next summer. Stokes said that it is important to give Archer some time before including him in an international match following a long injury layoff.

The speedster made his return for England Lions against England in a practice match this week before the Test series against Pakistan starting on December 1. Injuries kept the bowler out competitive circuit since March 2021.

"It's great to see him back running with the ball in his hand. He's one of the superstars of the international game and it's great to see him running back in, bowling fast and it's really good to have him back around the group as well." Stokes was quoted as saying to Sky Sports.

I think he is just really excited to be back: Ben Stokes

The star all-rounder also said that the team is expecting the right-arm pacer to be available for selection for next year’s ashes series. The 31-year-old thinks that the seamer is one of the top stars in world cricket currently and talked about how relaxed he was when he saw him bowling fast again.

"I think he's just really excited to be back. He's obviously had a long time off with injury and as exciting as it is we've got to be careful not to rush him back as we don't want to see Jofra Archer on the sidelines for this amount of again.”

"That's the plan, hopefully, we can have Jofra fit and ready especially for The Ashes. That's something that we're looking at for Jof and it would be great to have him available for selection for that.” Stokes said.

England are also hoping that Archer will aim to regain his full fitness soon so he would be available for the 50-over World Cup next year. The 27-year-old performed really well in the 50-over World Cup 2019 and helped England to win the title.