Eoin Morgan contacted Jofra Archer with a ‘message of support’ after the England bowler was ruled out of all cricket this summer, including the upcoming Ashes series.
The 28-year-old starred in England’s World Cup triumph that summer – taking 20 wickets during the tournament and bowling the super over that clinched the trophy in a thrilling final against New Zealand.
Archer has struggled with elbow and back problems since 2019 and there are doubts he will ever add to his 13 Test caps following the latest setback.
Morgan, who captained Archer throughout the 2019 World Cup, told Metro.co.uk: ‘I’m devastated for him.
‘He’s just spending some time away at the moment. Honestly, it couldn’t be much worse. He had 18 months out of the game, came back and felt good.
‘Now he’s got another setback and will miss a very important summer for English cricket. He’s the type of guy who can take everything in his stride, but this is as difficult as it comes.
‘His attitude has been unbelievable throughout his rehab but because he has the ability to be the best in the world and beat the best in the world, missing out on a summer like this does really hurt.’
Asked if had spoken to Archer since the injury blow, Morgan added: ‘I have spoken to him.
‘I was lucky enough to get to know a lot of players during my career and a lot of them are good friends so I messaged him as a friend as opposed to anything else.
‘Just to make sure everything is okay and tell him there’s always a way back. Sometimes you can struggle to see that after this kind of setback. So it was just a message of support really.’
It was hoped Archer’s injury issues were a thing of the past as he returned to England’s white-ball squad earlier this year.
But the Sussex star had to return home from the Indian Premier League early after suffering discomfort and scans revealed a stress fracture.
‘Jofra deserves a bit of luck. He’s pretty distraught about what happened,’ England director of cricket, Rob Key, said last month.
‘Sometimes people think he’ll go down a white-ball road and he’s not interested in Test cricket. That’s absolutely not the case. He is desperate to play all forms of cricket.
‘I hope he gets the chance to do that. I’m sure we’ll see him back at some point.’
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