Jofra Archer to travel to ICC Cricket World Cup as England reserve and could feature in tournament after injury

Jofra Archer will travel with the England squad to the ICC 2023 Cricket World Cup as a reserve as he continues to work on his return to fitness.

The 28-year-old fast bowler hasn’t played since March due to injury and wasn’t included in England’s 15-man squad for the World Cup in India.

However, he has been training with the team and has now been called up as a reserve.

"The best thing for Jofra is to travel with the team and keep working with his rehab and being around the physios and the team,” said England national selector Luke Wright.

“We are doing all we can to get him ready to be as good as he can be.

"If there was an injury he might be able to replace at the back end of the tournament, but obviously, we are still working on his fitness day-by-day and we'll have to keep accessing that.”

Archer was part of the team that won the World Cup in 2019, bowling the Super Over in the final against New Zealand.

However, his appearances since have been limited by several injury issues.

He returned to international cricket earlier this year after more than 12 months out, but then missed the summer schedule, including the Ashes against Australia, due to an elbow issue.

England start their World Cup defence against New Zealand on October 5 in a rematch of the 2019 final.

England beat New Zealand 3-1 in a four-match one-day international series this month.

England announced their World Cup squad on Sunday, September 17 as Harry Brook secured a place and Jason Roy was omitted.

Joe Root will look to improve his form before the World Cup by playing in England's first ODI against Ireland this week.

Root made scores of six, nought, four and 29 in the recent series against New Zealand.

The squad to face Ireland does not feature any other players involved at the World Cup, but Wright said Root had "asked to be involved" in Wednesday's first ODI.

England's World Cup squad: Jos Buttler (captain), Moeen Ali, Gus Atkinson, Jonny Bairstow, Harry Brook, Sam Curran, Liam Livingstone, Dawid Malan, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Ben Stokes, Reece Topley, David Willey, Mark Wood, Chris Woakes.

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