Archer to miss West Indies ODI series with thumb injury

England fast bowler Jofra Archer will miss the one-day international series against West Indies with a thumb injury that also threatens to delay a potential return to Test cricket.

Archer will sit out the three ODIs between May 29 and June 3 and has been replaced in the squad by Lancashire left-armer Luke Wood.

The 30-year-old will be reassessed by the England medical team over the next fortnight but is perhaps also a doubt for England Lions' red-ball game against India A in Northampton from June 6.

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Archer was left out of the T20 leg of the West Indies series having been earmarked to feature for the Lions at the same time ahead of potential involvement in the Test series against India, which begins at Headingley on June 20.

The paceman has not played a first-class match in four years and made the most recent of his 13 Test appearances in India in February 2021, with England easing him back into the international game through white-ball cricket after a horror run with injuries.

However, they are keen for him to form part of the battery of pace bowlers they take to Australia this winter as they look to win the Ashes overseas for the first time since 2010/11.

Archer has been playing in the Indian Premier League for Rajasthan Royals, taking 11 wickets in 12 games with a best of 3-25.