Stokes wants 'superstar' Archer 'fit and ready' for Ashes next summer

KARACHI: England Test skipper Ben Stokes said he wants speedster Jofra Archer to be fully "fit and ready" for the Ashes series against Australia next summer.

Archer has been out of international cricket since March 2021 due to a series of elbow and back injuries. But he made his comeback by representing England Lions against England in a warm-up match in Abu Dhabi this week.

After his comeback to cricket, Stokes said it was great to see the right-arm pacer with the ball and hoped he will be fully ready for the Ashes series as they won't be rushing him since he was out of the game for more than a year.

"It's been great to see him out here when we joined up with the Lions," England Test captain Stokes told Sky Sports.

"It's great to see him back running with the ball in his hand. He's one of the superstars of the international game, and it's great to see him running back in, bowling fast and it's really good to have him back around the group as well.

"I think he's just really excited to be back. He's obviously had a long time off with injury and as exciting as it is we've got to be careful not to rush him back as we don't want to see Jofra Archer on the sidelines for this amount of [time] again.

"That's the plan, hopefully, we can have Jofra fit and ready especially for The Ashes. That's something that we're looking at for him and it would be great to have him available for selection for that."

Edgbaston will host the opening clash of the Ashes series from Friday June 16 to 20.

It must be noted here that the 27-year-old has played 13 Test matches for England, taking 42 wickets at an average of 31.04.

The Stokes-led English side will be touring Pakistan for a three-match Test series, which is scheduled to kick off at the Pindi Cricket Stadium on December 1.

England squad for Test series against Pakistan: Ben Stokes (c), James Anderson, Harry Brook, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ben Foakes, Will Jacks, Keaton Jennings, Jack Leach, Liam Livingstone, Jamie Overton, Ollie Pope, Ollie Robinson, Joe Root, Mark Wood,  Rehan Ahmed