England fast-bowler Jofra Archer admitted he felt being like a burden during his long injury lay-off and is cherishing the prospect of playing Men’s T20 World Cup for the defending champions. Archer flew home from his last year’s Indian Premier League (IPL) stint due to right elbow pain and underwent surgery, which meant he spent more time on the sidelines following a brief return to competitive cricket after recovering from persistent back and elbow injuries.

England have managed his lengthy rehabilitations and even kept him on central contracts, and carefully got him to return to playing cricket in time for the World Cup campaign in Barbados, also Archer’s home turf.

Ahead of England’s high-octane clash against Australia at the Kensington Oval, Archer told reporters about the feelings he had during his lengthy recovery period. “Sometimes you feel like a burden not playing. I’ve seen a few comments as well, people saying, ‘He’s on the longest paid holiday I’ve ever seen’.”

“You try to not let it get to you but you can ignore 100 of them and then sometimes the 101st is the straw that breaks the camel’s back. I’ve changed a lot of my social media stuff just so you don’t see a lot, but there’s a little that always filters through. You’ve just got to keep going.”

“I found it a little worrying, not about my body…just the external stuff. But I was able to do most of my rehab out there and just to get away from the noise back in the UK was really good.”

“Once you get the first ball out of the way, any nerves are gone. You tend to forget everything else and just focus. I feel that’s the best way. There’s so much surrounding the cricket before you bowl a ball. So much goes into playing a game.”

Archer had a two-over spell at the Kensington Oval earlier this week in an abandoned fixture against Scotland and he fulfilled a long-standing dream of playing cricket in his hometown. For this, children from his old school and of his teammate Chris Jordan were present at the stadium alongside family and friends to welcome the two at home for the World Cup.

“It was a little bit emotional. I had a little bit of water in my eye, and it wasn’t the rain. The prime minister invited us up to the box when it got cancelled and she said she pretty much cancelled school, mine and CJ’s old schools, so the kids could come and watch us.”

“I saw a clip of one of the reporters as well – she went to primary school with me — and she was going around speaking to people in the ground. That was touching. I felt really supported. I felt unbelievable.”

“I feel it’s the first time I’ve played at any cricket ground where maybe 80 per cent of the people were there to see me and actually knew my name and how to pronounce my name properly as well,” he concluded.