England to make late call on Jofra Archer for second South Africa Test

Jofra Archer remains a doubt for the second Test against South Africa with England to make a late call on the seamer’s fitness.

Archer has gone for a scan on his right elbow ahead of the clash in Cape Town on Friday, at which England will be looking to level the four-match series after losing the opener at Centurion by 107 runs.

Paceman Mark Wood and spinner Jach Leach are unavailable, with Wood still working his way back to full fitness after side and knee injuries and Leach having suffered badly from the illness that swept through the England camp before and during the first Test.

Rory Burns is also a doubt after injuring his left ankle playing football.

“It will be another late call,” England captain Joe Root said when asked about Archer, who did not train on Thursday. “We are still waiting to hear back results-wise from his scan, then we will play it by ear.

“I think it’s a recurring injury and he’s had it before. He did pull up very sore [on Wednesday] and seemed to be in a little pain. It was obviously quite disappointing to see him pull up like that.

“You want to manage a young talent like Jofra – make sure that we don’t blow him out for six months, make sure we get the most out of him for as long as we can.

“You look at his short career and he has had big impacts on a lot of moments in big Test matches. Of course, he will be a big loss if he is not able to play but it will also be an opportunity for someone else.

“It’s been frustrating throughout, but these things happen in sport. You’ve got to manage as best you can and we are trying to make sure that if anyone does pick up illness or injury then they are fit and ready to go as soon as possible.”

England did not select a front-line spinner at Centurion but off-spinner Dom Bess and uncapped leg-spinner Matt Parkinson are options should the tourists want one at Newlands.

Bess was not picked in England’s initial squad but earned a call-up following the virus that has so far affected 11 players and a number of members of the backroom staff.

The Somerset bowler played two Tests at home to Pakistan in 2018, scoring a fifty on debut at Lord’s and then taking three wickets in his second appearance, at Headingley.

“Everything is still on the table as it stands [with selection],” added Root. “We’ll make a decision on the surface when we’ve had a closer look at it, maybe even [Friday] morning. With not knowing exactly how Jofra is, it might change the way we balance the side up.”

Sky Sports Cricket pundit Nasser Hussain said it would be harsh on Parkinson if Bess got the nod ahead of him.

“I would pick in order of how they’ve been selected for England. I would pick Jack Leach, if he were available and fit, and if he’s not I would go with Parkinson and then Bess as the call-up.

“There seems to be a real disconnect between the selectors and the initial selection and what has been going on recently.

“The selectors look like they want Bess to play – so why was Parkinson selected ahead of Bess?

“They might say that Bess gives you a batting option, which he does, and also with Sam Curran being a left-armer there are going to be a few footholds out there for Bess to land it in.”

Pieter Malan will make his South Africa debut as Dean Elgar’s opening partner, with Aiden Markram ruled out of the rest of the series with a fractured finger.

Malan, 30, has scored 32 hundreds, 42 fifties and over 10,000 runs in his 148 first-class matches to date, with a top-score of 211 not out.

Rassie van der Dussen, who hit a half-century on debut in the Proteas’ victory at SuperSport Park, will retain his place in the middle order despite Temba Bavuma having passed a fitness test.

“Pieter will come in at the top and make his debut on his home ground. He is a guy who knows his game,” said South Africa captain Faf du Plessis.

“Temba is fit but we feel it’s the right thing to do to stick with Rassie. Any player needs a bit of time, that’s how you’d like it in any format.”

Du Plessis added: “We haven’t really achieved anything; we’ve just won one Test match. There is a lot that still needs to happen for us to go where we want to go as a Test team.

“For me it’s about understanding as a team that the standards need to go up a little bit. We were fortunate we could get a win but we understand that Test cricket against England is not always going to go our way.

“If you take your foot off the gas and complacency creeps in, we’ll go back to playing just ordinary cricket.

Watch day one of the second Test between South Africa and England, in Cape Town, live on Sky Sports Cricket from 7.30am on Friday.

(c) Sky Sports 2020: England to make late call on Jofra Archer for second South Africa Test