London, June 26 (UNI) Former England captain Michael Vaughan wants to see star quick Jofra Archer play another domestic red-ball match before he is unleashed onto India in the ongoing
Test series.
Archer played his first red-ball contest in more than four years earlier this week when he turned out for Sussex in their four-day match against Durham at Chester-Le-Street and the 30-year-old showed glimpses of his best as he scored 31 with the bat and collected figures of 1/32 from 18 overs as the teams played out a draw.
The return to first-class cricket had been earmarked by national selector Luke Wright as a potential path back into Test cricket for Archer, but Vaughan sees no reason to rush the classy right-armer in for the second Test against India given England hold a 1-0 lead in the five-match series.
Vaughan thinks Archer should play another four-day match for Sussex against Warwickshire commencing on Sunday and see how his injury-plagued body recovers before he should be considered for a Test recall.
"The good thing is that Jofra is back in the equation - but I'd like to see him play another four-day game," Vaughan told the BBC.
"He's not played the longer format for four years so why, on the back of one game for Sussex against Durham, would you rush him back?
"We know the intensity at Test-match level is so different to county cricket. Let him play another four-day game - I would go with the same line-up, as long as the bowlers are fine and there are no niggles."
Sussex head coach Paul Farbrace had a good view of Archer's red-ball return and the highly-rated mentor echoed Vaughan's sentiments upon erring on the side of caution with the right-armer's immediate return to the Test arena.
England play the second most amount of matches during this ICC World Test Championship cycle and have a highly-anticipated five-match Ashes series at the end of this year to consider when plotting Archer's return.
"He bowled with good pace, good accuracy and his body's in good shape which is fantastic," Farbrace said of Archer's efforts against Durham.
"We would all love to see Jofra playing for England because he makes England a much better team, and he would give them a much better chance of winning the big series.
"But let's look after him, let's be careful with him. The conversation we'd had (with England) was that he would play in this game, and then we'd reassess.
"All I will report back to them is that he bowled nicely, he looks like he's in good rhythm, he's bowled 18 overs and it's up to them whether they pick him."
The second Test between England and India commences in Birmingham from July 2.
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