The threat of a three-year ban from the lucrative Indian Premier League means Jofra Archer will appear in this weekend’s auction, potentially complicating England’s plans to bring him back to Test cricket.
Archer was not initially on Friday’s 574-strong shortlist for the IPL 2025 auction, which takes place on Sunday in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, as the player and England, with whom he has a central contract, sought to clarify the new league rules.
In an effort to gain greater control by preventing players from withdrawing at the last minute if they are unhappy with the price they were auctioned for or by choosing the season they played in, the IPL introduced a series of ban threats. Players who have already participated in the competition – like Archer – would be banned if they do not register for this year’s auction if they are fit. They would also be banned if they withdrew at the last minute, if they were fit.
That left England and Archer in the unenviable position of denying him a potential three-year IPL earnings – potentially as much as $5 million – if he did not register this week.
England have delicately handled Archer’s return to international cricket after a series of serious injuries, including stress fractures to his elbow and back. This has gone well in white-ball cricket this year, with the natural next step being the Test series against India next summer and the Ashes that follows.
In the months leading up to these big series, England had hoped to keep Archer and Mark Wood out of the IPL – and therefore under their control – but the threat of a ban forced their hand, and Archer is expected to be on a list of players. added to the auction before Sunday.
If he is picked up at auction (which is likely, given his class), England would still have the right to withdraw Archer from the tournament if they have doubts about his fitness after the Champions Trophy in March. They could revoke his no-objection certificate, the documents a player needs to play in a foreign league.
This year is a mega-auction, where teams can only retain a small number of players, meaning 204 spots are available for auction.
Archer has not played Test cricket since February 2021, and England are hoping to have him ready for a big 2025 which sees them face India at home and Australia away. To prove he could overcome the rigors of a Test match, he would probably need to prove his fitness in first-class cricket with Sussex. If he played in the IPL, that opportunity would be delayed, which could also delay his return to the England Whites.
Wood’s situation is subtly different. He is currently injured until the new year and his contract with England is longer (until October 2026, instead of October 2025, and perhaps more lucrative). He should not be a late addition to the auction list.
Jofra Archer’s England roadmap
Quietly, without much fanfare, Archer has put together six months of cricket that provide enough evidence for England fans to dare to dream that he could be involved in a highly anticipated Test series that begins exactly a year today.
But the fierce fight for his place in the IPL 2025 auction is a reminder that there are many hurdles to overcome before he plays Test cricket again, and that we do not live in an era where international teams have total control.
England have spent much of their time since February 2021, when Archer last played Test cricket, plotting a path back for him to Test Whites. In 2023, when he fought back after a gap of 679 days between international appearances in white-ball cricket, the Ashes emerged as a possibility, only for injury to strike again. This time, they are pleading for even more patience and trying to take an even slower route back. There has been no sense of rush, especially this year, when there might have been a temptation to speed things up with the retirement of Jimmy Anderson. Everything has gone well so far.
On 25 May, Archer returned to action in a T20 series against Pakistan. He followed it with a full T20 World Cup campaign, eight Hundred matches, a Vitality Blast quarter-final, then a white-ball series against Australia and a tour of the Caribbean. He’s been rested and rotated here and there, but for the most part Archer has powered through six months of cricket showing decent form and few worrying signs.
Archer has been dogged by injuries and expectations for so long that visible disappointment appears on his face every time a reporter asks him about his progress, and particularly a test return. Speaking after a superb display in an ODI at Lord’s in September, Archer mentioned “checkmarks” and “takeaways”.
“I think the World Cup was a good step,” he said. “This [the Australia series] was a good tick. The Caribbean will be another good point to check off. Yeah, I would say that [this summer has gone as well as it could have]. I’m still at the park and we’re almost at the end of summer. So for me, that’s a takeaway. I wanted to play a summer, then I want to play a year, then I want to play a few years. So everything is going as planned.
Two months later, it’s still true. In the Caribbean there were signs of progress as England increased its workload. He bowled more than four overs for the first time this year. After that match at Lord’s, England rested him for the next ODI at Bristol two days later, to ensure they did not overwork him, but in the Caribbean he played three consecutive 50-over matches, including two in three days. These are small but significant steps.
The next step in building his workload is first-class cricket, with a view to playing Tests. By the end of their tour of New Zealand, England will have played 50 Tests since Archer last appeared in one. They got used to being without him.
For now, Archher will take a break. Mark Wood and Josh Tongue will join the England Lions – who are coached by Andrew Flintoff and have Dale Steyn as their coaching consultant – in South Africa this month to play more away bowling as they recovering from an injury. But a strong Caribbean tour means Archer doesn’t need to join them. In January, he will tour India with England, before playing in the Champions Trophy.
This is where things get complicated. As centrally contracted players with poor injury histories and big looming Test challenges, the players’ main (but not most lucrative) employers, the ECB attempted to keep Archer and Wood out of the IPL auction of this year. But England were powerless to keep Archer out when it became clear he would be banned from the IPL for three years if he did not do so. Missing one year of IPL salary is one thing, three quite another in a short career constantly threatened by injuries.
So, if he is fit, Archer is almost certain to spend April and May in India, rather than playing for Sussex. England will be hoping he is picked up by a franchise willing to cooperate on his workload (as Mumbai Indians have done in previous seasons). Otherwise, these two months represent the biggest potential for Archer’s chances of playing a few matches against India and, if things go well, three or four matches against the Ashes.
England is no longer as dependent on Archer as it once was. The pool of real quicks has expanded over the past year. It’s not just about Archer and Wood, who shouldn’t need to be too upset, like Archer was five years ago in New Zealand, or come back in desperation.
Gus Atkinson and Brydon Carse impressed, as did Stone and Tongue. Like Archer, Saqib Mahmood and Jamie Overton look good in white-ball cricket and could play the longer Ashes format. There are eight names there; If England went to Australia with even five of them fit, they would have a few options alongside Ben Stokes and Matthew Potts (and perhaps Chris Woakes, if he does well in New York). Zealand, who are a little slower They hope to unearth some more gems on the Flintoff Lions tour, where the very raw Josh Hull and Mitchell Stanley are highly regarded, alongside the more experienced John Turner and Dillon. Pennington.
As Rob Key admitted when he said recently he had all his “fingers crossed” that Archer would play Test cricket again as they try to navigate the final year before the Ashes don’t get a little luckier. This will never be more important than during the IPL.