‘I thought I’d lose my contract’: England star reveals impact on ‘mental health’ | Cricket

The Vitality Blast – England’s leading T20 competition – begins on May 25 and all eyes are on the return of one of the country’s leading speedsters, Jofra Archer. The 27-year-old right-arm pacer had been away from action since July 2021 due to injury and underwent multiple elbow surgeries for the same. Archer is likely to make a return to competitive cricket for Sussex in their opening game against Glamorgan on May 26.

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In a column for England’s leading daily ‘Daily Mail’, Archer opened up on his struggles with the injury, and revealed that he had also feared losing his England contract as he went to a “dark place” in terms of mental health. 

“After my first operation last May, my right elbow felt no different at all. Obviously, I wasn’t going to fully know whether it had been successful until I started bowling, but what I can say is that things immediately felt different after my second one in December. Now, nearly five months down the line, it’s a relief the way things are,” Archer wrote.

“In a situation like this, when you are forced to have operations, you do think about whether you are going to play cricket again, whether you’re going to play all formats even. But the ECB gave me the assurance and peace of mind that they wanted me around for a long time.

“At one point I thought I was going to lose my contract when things weren’t going well, but now I have confidence about what the future holds. Part of that is down to them not rushing me back,” wrote the England speedster.

Archer further revealed that he would usually be participating in the Indian Premier League at the moment, but insisted that he made the right decision of skipping the tournament and allowing himself an extended break.

“Normally, I would have been in pre-season or at the Indian Premier League, so while I’ve been prevented from playing these past eight months, mentally I feel good.

“Having gone into a dark place last summer after the first op, I can see why when people are not on the good side of situations like this they sometimes have a downward spiral in terms of mental health,” said Archer.