T20 World Cup: 'You Feel Like A Burden For Not Playing' - Archer Opens Up On Injury Struggles

The fast bowler announced himself to the cricketing world five years ago, with an inspired display helping England to World Cup glory.

However, a string of injury issues - notably stress fractures in his right elbow and back - has seen his appearances limited and prevented him from truly building on that momentum.

Nevertheless, throughout his rehabilitation, England have stuck by Archer, who said he was hurt by the widespread criticism he received during his absence, handing him a fresh two-year contract in the latter part of 2023.

The 29-year-old hopes to repay that faith during the T20 World Cup in his native West Indies, where the reigning champions resume their title defence against Australia on Saturday.

"Sometimes, you feel like a burden not playing," he said. "I've seen a few comments as well, people saying, 'He's on the longest paid holiday I've ever seen'.

"You try not to 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 found it a little worrying, not about my body, just the external stuff. 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've got a PDF file of every single game I'm supposed to play from now until next summer, they've really planned out almost everything.

"Probably the only thing they haven't planned out is the showers I take! Even when I wasn't playing, they gave me targets that I'd keep trying to tick off, and it's really nice that they're actually falling into place."