Skipper Buttler stresses England's 'duty of care' for Archer's fitness
Sep 17, 2023
London [UK], September 17 : England's captain, Jos Buttler, emphasized the importance of prioritizing the fitness of their fast bowler, Jofra Archer, stating their "duty of care." It's possible that Archer, who is returning from an injury, could travel to India as a reserve for this year's tournament, according to Sky Sports reports.
Notably, Archer bowled the Super Over as England edged New Zealand on boundary countback in a dramatic World Cup final at Lord's in 2019. However, Buttler said that his side will take no risks with the bowler's fitness, who joined the England team for a practice session on Tuesday.
"He's been out of the game for a while. He's had his elbow and his back [injuries] and he's still a young man who's got a lot of cricket ahead of him. There's a massive duty of care to make sure that he's fully fit for the rest of his career," Buttler on Saturday after the 100-run victory over New Zealand in the fourth ODI match.
"It's obviously exciting to see him in an England tracksuit and bowling, he's a superstar. But we'll find out more over time," he added.
Since bowling the crucial super over that gave England the victory in the exciting final against New Zealand at Lord's four years ago, Archer has been hampered by injury. He missed the entire summer due to a stress fracture in his problematic right elbow.
England will kick off their World Cup campaign on 5 October against New Zealand at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad in what will be a rematch of the 2019 final.
England's provisional squad for the World Cup: Jos Buttler (captain), Moeen Ali, Gus Atkinson, Jonny Bairstow, Sam Curran, Liam Livingstone, Dawid Malan, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes, Reece Topley, David Willey, Mark Wood and Chris Woakes.
