Jofra Archer will miss England's two huge winter assignments of the Twenty20 World Cup and Ashes following a recurrence of a stress fracture of his right elbow.
As Sportsmail exclusively revealed earlier this week, the 2019 World Cup star suffered a setback in his rehabilitation from elbow surgery on May 21 and the ECB has confirmed he will be sidelined until 2022.
The operation to remove a bone fragment from the joint had been timed to allow the 26-year-old Sussex fast bowler to make a case for a return to action towards the end of the five-match Test series against India which began on Wednesday at Trent Bridge - or at the least have him match ready for the quest to add a Twenty20 world title to the 50-over one his outstanding bowling helped secure two years ago.
Jofra Archer will miss England's huge winter assignments of the T20 World Cup and Ashes
Joe Root and England were hoping for Archer to make a case for selection towards the end of the India series
However, his return to bowling programme stalled last month after he sent down three overs in a Vitality Blast win over Kent and then six more overs in a one-day friendly versus Oxfordshire two days later.
Archer had been lined up to play in Sussex's Royal London Cup campaign to increase his workloads with Test cricket in mind but was sent for scans instead after reporting pain in the troublesome joint.
'In response to these findings, he has been ruled out for the rest of the year and will miss the current LV= Insurance Test series against India, the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2021 and the Ashes series in Australia,' confirmed an ECB spokesperson.
The ECB clarified that the operation Archer underwent earlier this summer is not related to the stress fracture that sidelined the player in South Africa in early 2020, and that he will be reviewed this autumn.
Archer's loss will be keenly felt by England across all formats: he is arguably the world's best short format fast bowler, winning the Indian Premier League's MVP award last year, and possesses the pace and bounce to provide Joe Root's Test team in Australian conditions.
However, his return to bowling programme stalled after bowling against Kent and Oxfordshire
Archer discussed the injury with a consultant on Wednesday and long-term rest was recommended in a bid for a player who set the international stage alight in his maiden summer of 2019 to regain full fitness and rediscover his very best form.
In a recent Sportsmail column, Archer refused to set a return date, saying any appearances for England this
