He’s back!

After four years away from Test cricket, Jofra Archer will make his long-awaited return for England in the format against India at Lord’s from Thursday, live on Sky Sports (11am first ball).

So, why is the fast bowler being reintroduced now, how will he be deployed by captain Ben Stokes, and can he be the man to ruffle India run-machine Shubman Gill?

Where has Archer been?

Serious elbow and back injuries mean Archer has not played a Test since February 2021 – against India in Ahmedabad, when he made Gill his 42nd and most recent Test victim, caught top-edging a bouncer.

Oh how England would love a repeat of that wicket early on at Lord’s this week…

Archer has been kept on a steady diet of white-ball cricket over the last few years with England keen not to rush a red-ball return but he played a County Championship match for Sussex last month, getting through 18 overs against Durham and taking one wicket.

Stokes said of Archer: “If we did not think he was ready, or in a position to be selected, he would not be selected. We think he’s done enough to be able to get through a Test match.”

Why is he back now?

England feel Archer is fit enough to play a Test, then, despite many pundits, including Sky Sports’ Nasser Hussain, thinking the move represents a “gamble” considering those 18 overs for Sussex versus Durham are his only deliveries in first-class cricket in four years.

With Archer earmarked to play a key role in the bid to regain The Ashes this winter – England are hoping to take a battery of 90mph bowlers to Australia – Stokes and co want to make sure he is tested out before then in the cauldron of Test cricket.

Plus, the attack has appeared to lack a little X-factor across the first couple of games against India with the tourists piling on a combined 1,849 runs – a record for the first two Tests of a series – across flat pitches at Headingley and Edgbaston.

And Archer has plenty of X-factor at his best – express pace, movement, cunning slower balls – although it would perhaps be wise not to expect too much too soon.

I don’t think there’s any reason we can’t see Archer operating at a level that we saw here at Lord’s on his debut. It’s obvious whenever he does get the ball in his hand there is a change in
the game. The opposition feel it as well because they know what he can do in a spell.

Archer has good memories of Lord’s, doesn’t he?

He sure does. After bowling the Super Over there during England’s thrilling, boundary-countback win over New Zealand in the 2019 World Cup final, Archer went on to make his Test debut at cricketing HQ later that summer – and provided an immediate impact.

He pinned Cameron Bancroft lbw for his maiden Test wicket and picked up four more before the game was through – including David Warner and Usman Khawaja – but the most memorable act was a searing 90mph spell to Steve Smith.

Smith – who had hit two hundreds in the series opener at Edgbaston – was struck on the helmet by one scorching Archer delivery and later forced out of the game on medical grounds, with Marnus Labuschagne becoming Test cricket’s first concussion sub.

How will England use him this time around?

You would hope as a shock bowler not a stock bowler.

Archer is surely best served operating in short, sharp bursts where he can crank up his pace and then have ample time to rest, particularly coming back from serious injuries.

The quick was once deployed for 42 overs in an innings on a featherbed of a pitch in Mount Maunganui, New Zealand.

Plus, West Indies fast-bowling legend and former Sky Sports commentator Michael Holding was critical of Archer being over-bowled at points during his first spell as a Test cricketer, saying England risked tarnishing his top speed.

Can Archer solve England’s Gill conundrum?

Maybe Archer is the man to end India captain Gill’s batting dominance?

England certainly need someone to do that with the batter’s knocks of 269 and 161 at Edgbaston following a 147 at Headingley and leaving him with 585 runs so far at an average of 146.25. Gill’s only blemish was a second-innings eight in Leeds.

Sky Sports’ Michael Atherton said: “It’s a bit like Smith in the 2019 Ashes. We were going round Lord’s putting a microphone in front of punters, saying, ‘how do we get this man out?’ England have to find a way of Gill out and Archer’s return will be mouth-watering.”

So where should Archer – or indeed any England seamer – look to target Gill?

Former India wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik said on the Sky Sports Cricket Podcast: “Get the ball coming back in from fourth stump on a green-topped [pitch].” The legendary Ravi Shastri added: “Seaming track, leg before wicket.”

So there you have it, Jof. Time to go to work..

Watch day one of the third Test between England and India, at Lord’s, live on Sky Sports Cricket and Sky Sports Main Event from 10am Thursday (11am first ball) or stream without a contract.

England vs India – results and schedule

All games at 11am UK and Ireland; all on Sky Sports