England vs India: Jofra Archer makes up for lost time in third Test at Lord's

Unusually, Jofra Archer plays cricket wearing a watch.

The reason for his need to know the time when he's on the field for England is unclear.

Then again, when your job is to hurtle a ball at a batter, giving them a fraction of a second to react, and you have waited more than four years for the opportunity to do it again in Test cricket, time is important.

When Archer last played a Test for England, Shoaib Bashir was eight months short of his 18th birthday, Joe Biden had just been sworn in as US President and the UK was in a Covid lockdown.

Life moved on without him after that third Test against India in February 2021. England played 53 Archerless matches.

The 'void' Ashes, the birth of Bazball. Retirements of Stuart Broad and James Anderson, memorable wins in Rawalpindi and Hyderabad. The Jonny Bairstow stumping. The beginning and end of Ollie Robinson's Test career.

It has been a monumental collective effort to get Archer back in England whites, but only the man himself will know everything it has taken. The setbacks and heartbreak, lonely days in the gym and solo net sessions. One-dayers, T20s and Barbados club cricket.

Gradually, a fanciful dream became a reality. A return to red-ball cricket with Sussex and a place in the England squad for the second Test against India, all building to the third Test at Lord's.

When Archer was confirmed in the England XI the day before the game began, he prepared by bowling spin - right and left-arm - in the nets.

A rare Ben Stokes choice to bat first meant a wait to get the ball in hand. On a boiling Friday, Archer looked genuinely disappointed when his batting was cut short by the genius of Jasprit Bumrah.

Click here to read article