Archer takes first red-ball wicket since 2021 as he pushes for Test return

England paceman Jofra Archer marked his return to first-class action for Sussex with a wicket on day two of the Rothesay County Championship Division One match at Durham.

Sussex resumed on 322-9, having seen Archer make a late cameo with the bat on Sunday for a swift 31, with James Coles finishing unbeaten on 148 as they were eventually dismissed for 361.

Archer – playing his first red-ball match for Sussex since May 2021 following a string of injuries – struck in the 33rd over when he trapped Emilio Gay lbw for 37.

Durham went on to reach 249-5 at stumps, with Colin Ackermann scoring 65 and Graham Clark unbeaten on 45, as Archer finished with figures of 1-28 from his 14-over spell.

“Now I know my body can hold up to it, the mental part of the game (is a greater issue),” Archer told BBC Radio Sussex.

“Over the next couple of days I’m going to have a battle with it. It’s all good. I’ll keep trucking along. When the scoreboard got to 50 overs I was like, ‘It’s time to come off now’, but we got to the end of day and it wasn’t that bad.”

Archer could yet come into the reckoning for England’s five-match Test series against India this summer, ahead of a winter Ashes tour of Australia, having last featured for the Test side in February 2021.

Asked if he felt ready to return to Test cricket, Archer replied: “I guess so. I just want to get through the game. I’m glad I’ve finished a day of four-day cricket.”

Anderson wickets help put Lancashire on top

In Division Two, stand-in Lancashire captain James Anderson picked two early wickets against Kent to help dismiss the visitors for 374.

Anderson – England’s all-time leading Test wicket-taker – made a breakthrough in Monday’s morning session when he dismissed Jack Leaning (four) off his first ball of the day and then had Joey Evison out for a 12-ball duck in his next over.

Kent opener Ben Compton went on to complete his century, eventually dismissed on 135, before Lancashire – without regular skipper Marcus Harris due to the birth of his second child – finished 120-1 and with Luke Wells 57 not out.