Stuart Broad feels Jofra Archer’s return to Test cricket is a huge boost for English cricket.
The 39-year-old Broad also called for Archer’s inclusion in England’s playing XI for the second match of the ENG vs IND 2025 Test series at Edgbaston, starting on Wednesday.
“He (Archer) played for Sussex this week and looks like he’s building up,” Broad, who picked up 604 wickets in 167 matches for England, said on the Love of Cricket podcast.
“If it was my decision, I’d play him. He’s got a bouncer that makes everyone jump. I think every England fan would be buzzing if you saw Jofra Archer’s name on that team sheet,” Broad, the second-highest wicket-taker for England in Test cricket behind James Anderson, added.
Jofra Archer, who plays for Rajasthan Royals in the IPL, last played a Test match for England in February 2021, when he turned up for England against India in Ahmedabad.
After missing a bulk of the 2022 and 2023 seasons due to injury, Archer has been inching his way back towards becoming an all-format fixture in the English set-up. He has been playing regular white ball cricket for England since 2024 but is yet to mark his Test return.
The speedster was originally included in the England squad for the first Test vs India at Headingley, but a thumb injury ruled him out of the contest, which England won.
However, the 30-year-old Archer made a solid return to red-ball cricket after almost four years earlier this week, bowling 18 economical overs and picking up a wicket for Sussex against Durham in the County Championship.
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Having proved his fitness in the county fixture, Archer was drafted back into the England squad for the second Test.
Former Rajasthan Royals player Jos Buttler, another Englishman, also welcomed Archer’s inclusion in the squad. He also opined that having Ben Stokes back as a full-time bowling option also helps England ease Archer back in.
"And one of the big things for Jofra's workload that will help him, I think, is obviously Ben Stokes playing a fully fit part, you know, as that fourth seamer. Even if they don't pick him (Archer) to play, it would just be fantastic to have him back around the group,” Buttler said.
Playing for RR in IPL 2025, Archer picked up 11 wickets in 12 matches and consistently stood out with his blistering pace.
His delivery at 152.3 kmph against the Gujarat Titans in Ahmedabad was the second-fastest of the league.
Whether it’s in Rajasthan pink or England whites, Archer’s raw pace has always had the potential to turn matches.
Making his international debut in 2019, he was a breakout star in England’s ICC Cricket World Cup win, holding his nerve in the Super Over and finishing as the team’s top wicket-taker with 20 scalps in 11 matches.
A month later, Archer made his Test debut in the Ashes at Lord’s, where his speeds regularly topped 150 kmph and unsettled Australia’s top order. Since then, he has taken 42 wickets from 13 Tests, including two six-wicket hauls during the 2019 Ashes.
