England have broken Jofra Archer – and no one can say it wasn’t coming | Barney Ronay


Let’s not dress it up. The fast bowler has been miserably treated this winter, and only occasionally by the opposition. England need to take far more care of this once-in-a-generation talent

Well, they’ve done it. They’ve broken Jofra. It’s taken nine months, divvied up into one Technicolor English summer and one angst-ridden winter of injury, fudge and friction. But they got there in the end. And – fair play to the lads – in good time too.

Spike Milligan had the phrase “I told you I was ill” inscribed on his headstone. Archer might be tempted to post something similar in response to the news he will miss the next three months of cricket with a long-standing stress fracture of the elbow that has only now been diagnosed correctly.

Related: England’s world-beating cricketers are suffering the curse of nation’s gilded few | Tanya Aldred

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