Jofra Archer to consider retirement from cricket if injury setbacks continue - 'That's the truth'

Jofra Archer has hinted that he may retire from cricket if he experiences another year of injury setbacks.

The 29-year-old has spent much of the past two years on the sidelines due to elbow and back injuries, and has not represented England in any format since March 2023.

After signing a two-year central contract with England in October, managing director Rob Key suggested Archer would be available for the T20 World Cup in June, before returning to Test cricket next year.

But in an

, Archer said may be forced to quit cricket if his injuries issues persisted.

"I haven’t played cricket for a whole 12 months as yet," he said. "Last year I played from January to May. I think the year before that, I played maybe one or two games for Sussex, so you know I've had a whole year of nothing. It feels like that sometimes.

"It's been a while and honestly, I don't know if I've got another stop-start year in me. That's the truth, I don't know if I've got another one."

Archer has taken part in a pre-season tour of India for Sussex, but is trying to stay realistic about his chances of playing at the T20 World Cup, which will be staged in the West Indies and United States.

"Worst-case scenario - I don't really want to think about this - but even if I don't make it to the World Cup for whatever reason, there's still the T20 Blast, there's still the Hundred," he said.

"There's still cricket that I haven't got a chance to play in the last couple of years. So as much as I want to play in the World Cup, if it doesn't happen for whatever reason, at least I still know I could be somewhat active."

Archer's first objective will be to make the England squad for a four-match T20 series against Pakistan at the end of May.

Key insisted they would not be rushing the bowler, saying: "What we're going to do is take it slower [rather] than trying to go too quickly so we get him back for not just a short period, but a long period."

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