Jofra Archer admits he felt like a 'burden' on England while injuries threatened his career... as the paceman vows to make up for lost time

Jofra Archer has admitted he felt like a ‘burden’ to England during the long rehabilitation from elbow surgery that left him worrying about his central contract and fearing for his future in cricket.

Archer made his long-awaited return to the international arena against Pakistan at Edgbaston last month after an absence of over a year, and followed that with an emotional appearance at Bridgetown’s Kensington Oval on Tuesday, when England began their defence of the T20 World Cup with a rain-ruined match against Scotland.

And while he has bowled a total of only six overs for England on the comeback trail, the excitement that has greeted his every smile and scowl is a reminder not just of his quality as a bowler, but of his easy charisma. Cricket has missed Archer as much as Archer has missed cricket.

After the Barbados prime minister Mia Mottley cancelled school to allow children from the alma maters of both Archer and Chris Jordan - Christ Church Foundation and Combermere - to attend the Scotland game, she invited them up to her box at the end of the match. He was treated as nothing short of a celebrity.

‘It was really emotional,’ said Archer. ‘I had a little bit of water in my eye, and it wasn’t the rain. I had a bit of a cry, but I was just settling.

‘I feel it was the first time I’ve played at any cricket ground where maybe 80% of the people were there to see me and knew how to pronounce my name properly. I felt really supported. It was unbelievable.’

Speaking at the Windward Cricket Club that lies just 150 metres from his front door, and where he spent much of his rehab, Archer looked and sounded as relaxed as he has done at any point in his five-year England career.

There were jokes about smuggling his dogs through ICC security for Saturday’s crucial match here against Australia, and playful references to his pet parrots, Jessie and James, named after Pokemon characters.

But there was also a strong sense that, thanks to time spent back on the island of his birth, he has rediscovered his equilibrium after social-media trolls added to the despair he felt at being unable to contribute to England’s cause.

‘Being able to do tour rehab and get away from the noise back in the UK was really good,’ he said. ‘I made a joke with Rob Key earlier. I said: “I’m glad I’m back playing because I reckon I’d have lost my contract in October.” He laughed and said: “Nah, you’re alright.”

‘Sometimes you feel like a burden not playing. I’ve seen a few comments as well, people saying he’s on the longest paid holiday, things like that. You try not to let it get to you. I feel like you can ignore 100 of them, but sometimes that 101 is the straw that breaks the camel’s back.

‘I’ve changed a lot of my social-media stuff so that I don’t see a lot. But there’s a little that always filters through, so you’ve just got to keep going.’

Even during the time spent recovering from injury, Archer has been England’s special project, visited regularly by physios to ensure he was on track, and feeling ready to go again as early as last November.

And Key has presented him with a detailed schedule that will take him up to the start of next summer. The plan is to play white-ball cricket only until then, with the World Cup here followed by games in September at home to Australia, another trip to the Caribbean in November, then a new year tour of India and, in March, the Champions Trophy in Pakistan.

All being well, Archer will play Test cricket against the touring Indians in the summer of 2025, ending an absence of more than four years from the longest form. If he can stay fit for the 2025-26 Ashes, England will land in Australia feeling better about life.

‘They’ve planned out almost everything,’ he said. ‘Probably the only thing they haven’t planned out is the showers I take. It’s been really good, and even when I wasn’t playing they made me feel really involved. I’m just glad everything seems to be going all right.’

Archer declined to discuss the magnitude of the Australia match, though allusions to the 2019 Ashes, when he took 22 wickets in his first Test series and bowled an electrifying spell to Steve Smith at Lord’s, will be inevitable during the build-up.

For now, he is just happy to be back, having emerged from the Edgbaston game against Pakistan with the knowledge that he was up to the stresses and strains of top-level cricket once more.

‘It’s all right to train, but to get that last 10% intensity, and find that, actually, the body is OK, is really refreshing,’ he said. You don’t need to be an England fan to hope the refreshment endures.