England talk-up Jofra Archer recall ahead of fourth South Africa Test

With The Wanderers pitch expected to offer plenty of pace the tourists are contemplating pairing Archer and Mark Wood together in Johannesburg

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England have offered the strongest hint yet that Jofra Archer could be line for a recall for the fourth Test against South Africa.

The 24-year-old is recovering from an elbow injury which forced him out of the third Test in Port Elizabeth but went a long way to proving his fitness in training 48 hours before the match.

Archer bowled with pace and hostility in the nets during practice on Wednesday in a bid to prove his fitness and batting coach Graham Thorpe was impressed with his display.

"Jofra had good rhythm and bowled nice and quick today," Thorpe told TalkSPORT. "That’s where we want Jofra to be. 

"He looks good, but he will have to come in again tomorrow and back it up.

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"I am really confident that Jof will have a good Test match here. The elbow problem has been a big issue for him. You can’t force that; you have to wait for the player to be confident with it."

Leading 2-1 in the series heading into the final Test, England must decide whether to add Archer to an attack already including Mark Wood, or whether to leave out Dom Bess who took his maiden five-for at St George's Park.

Wood played his first five-day match for 20 months in PE and will not be risked in Johannesburg if he is not 100 per cent fit.

"Mark hasn’t played back-to-back Test matches for a while, but he bowled exceptionally well for us in Port Elizabeth," added Thorpe.

"He bowled at high speeds of 90mph-plus and gave us an X factor. We’ll have to see how he is and I’m sure Wood will be really honest with us."