Archer undergoes surgery

England fast bowler Jofra Archer has had surgery on his right hand after Ashley Giles revealed he suffered the injury cleaning a fish tank at his home in January.

The injury was managed by England during the side’s Test and T20 series in India.

The 25-year-old played in two of the four Tests and all five T20 matches.

Giles, England’s director of cricket, said: “He’s got a fish tank, dropped the fish tank and cut his hand.”

Speaking on Radio 5 Live’s Tuffers and Vaughan show, Giles said: “This is going to sound like an awful conspiracy and I know what’s going to happen on Twitter straight away when I say this.

“But it’s true, it’s not a conspiracy, it was a fish tank. He was cleaning at home [when it happened].

“He’s been in surgery today [Monday] and he’s come out of it well. They’ve operated and actually I think they found a small fragment of glass still in the tendon.

“So it was the right thing to do, we’ve got a clear window to do it as well, so obviously we wish him the best for his recovery.”

Archer will now miss the start of the Indian Premier League, which runs from 9 April to 30 May.

Archer is expected to play a key role across all formats for England in 2021 – a year which includes five home Tests against India, a T20 World Cup and the Ashes in Australia.

He has struggled with an elbow injury since 2019, missing three Tests of England’s tour of South Africa in early 2020 and the T20 series that followed.

England team-mate Ben Stokes said on Thursday that Archer needed to get his elbow “properly sorted” to protect his long-term career.

England’s final match of the tour takes place on Sunday, with the ODI series level at 1-1. (BBC)