England has suffered a major setback before the Test series against New Zealand as Pacer Jofra Archer has been ruled out of the series due to injury. The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has confirmed the exclusion of Archer. In County Championship, he could only bowl 5 overs for Sussex in the second innings against Kent.
In an official statement, ECB said, "Archer, who returned to action for Sussex in the LV= Insurance County Championship against Kent this week at Hove, only bowled 5 overs in Kent's second innings. He was suffering from pain in his right elbow when bowling and was unable to bowl in the final two days of the match. The England and Sussex medical teams will now seek guidance, and he will see a medical consultant later this week to determine the next course of action on the management of his elbow."
The two-match Test series will take place between England and New Zealand from 2 June. The first Test will take place at Lord's stadium. After this series, England have to play a five-match Test series against India. This series will take place in August-September. Archer may face surgery on his troublesome right elbow after which he will likely have to stay away from the field for a long time, which would be a huge loss for England. The team has a very busy schedule this year. Archer has so far played 13 Tests, 17 ODIs and 12 T20I for England. Apart from Archer, All-rounder Ben Stokes is already ruled out of the series after sustaining a finger injury during IPL 2021.