Rob Key: Archer’s IPL season will set him back on Test return

“But we had to look and see what India was going to do with [the IPL’s rules]. We thought we could argue that it is still in part of a managed workload period. The problem with that was that he was then bowling with two slips and a gully and at 90mph in the T20s in the West Indies, so it’s hard to argue that he gets injured when he bowls that way.

“They [the BCCI] He came back after a bit of back and forth and said, ‘Well, no, you won’t be allowed in this year, or the next year after that.’ Then you start to think that it might be about $4 million that he loses there, and then I don’t feel… so it’s really up to him. You say: ‘Jof, what do you want to do? This is your career, your life. You will still be able to play Test cricket.

“We think there’s a lot of water to go under the bridge for that, but we still think he’ll be fine. We’ll only be a couple of months behind… Then Jofra decided he felt it was best for him to enter the IPL.” [auction]which we didn’t have any problem with, and then doing that load during the IPL and preparing for the Test series that way.”

Key still believes Archer could be “one of the best bowlers” England have ever had and could play a role against India, although he warned he will not be an automatic selection. “The plan is for him to be ready to play,” he said. “I was probably only going to play one or two Tests this summer; three at a time.

“He also has to come into the team now. I think he could be one of the best pitchers we’ve had, but he has to find a way. He has to be able to show that he can sustain it for a total of four games. It’s not a case that is fit, so he just comes into play. We have very good players now… I don’t see any reason why he can’t. [return to Tests]”.

Key admitted that his decision-making as general manager was partly based on his concern that franchises would offer English players year-round deals that were so lucrative that they would opt not to terminate their central contracts. “You don’t know what other governing bodies are going to do,” he said. “We are very much in a new world.

“I don’t think we want to be in a place where centrally contracted English players walk away from English cricket… Let’s say a franchise signs someone for $2 million to play all year round: we won’t see them for England. These franchise owners, They’re not going to say, ‘Oh, okay, we’ll pay them $2 million and you go and bowl them 20 overs a day in a Test match.'”