Jofra Archer management must change, admits England coach Chris Silverwood

The 24-year-old's anticipated three-month injury layoff has provoked questions over how he will be treated in the future

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England coach Chris Silverwood has conceded that the management of Jofra Archer has to change after the seamer was ruled out for three months with a stress fracture of his right elbow.

The 24-year-old bowled 400.5 overs in Tests, ODIs and T20Is in 2019, the most of any of his international teammates.

Test captain Joe Root has denied Archer, who only made his debut last May after becoming eligible for the national team, was over-worked during a summer which included the World Cup and the Ashes.

But Silverwood, speaking ahead of the three-match T20 series against South Africa - the first major assignment Archer will miss due to his injury - has admitted that things have to change.

"Things like [bowling 40 overs] we have to look at," Silverwood said of Archer, who bowled at least that figure in four of his seven Test outings last year. 

Jofra Archer bowled more overs than any of his England teammates in 2019... now remind me about that lack of effort

"But sometimes, when needs must, you’ve got to do it. We managed Mark Wood through both the Test matches he’s played here and he’s bowled in short sharp spells. Would we look to do that now with Jof? Yes, we probably would."

The former Essex man added: "It’s just a case of: his injury occurred. The first scan didn’t show us where it was. The second has. We can now put a plan in place and get him going for our summer.

"Being a fast bowler is hard work. It is hard work. Ask Jimmy, ask Broad, ask any of them. Being a fast bowler is hard work. It’s just how it is."

Conscious of rotating his seamers amid the grueling international schedule, Silverwood has spoken about his desire to build a large battery of quicks whom he can call upon.

Archer, Wood and Olly Stone are the express seamers among that list.

^{Joe Root has come in for criticism for his management of Jofra Archer}

Silverwood explained: "I would love to have those for the Ashes because we all know we get judged on the Ashes, so how can we give ourselves the best chance of succeeding? 

"If I have three of them fit there, whether it is those three or not, then it would be a great advantage for us.

"I am excited to see Jofra and Wood in the same team. As an ex-fast bowler that would be exciting. But you have to get the right conditions to do that."

"My dream, my ideal is to have three fast bowlers fit at any given point so we can rotate them, so they’re not always playing, and at any given point I’ve got one sat with his feet up full of energy waiting to go. 

"So when he comes in he can go and hit the game hard, and just keep that going. That is the dream. We have to make it reality."