ECB’s managing director Rob Key reacts to Jofra Archer’s decision to return to IPL

England men’s managing director Rob Key has admitted that Jofra Archer’s decision to feature in the 18th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) will put him “a couple of months behind” schedule in his attempt to make a red-ball return.

Key also revealed that the ECB wanted Archer to skip the upcoming edition of the cash-rich T20 league and focus on his red-ball return, however, a change in the rules of the IPL made things difficult for Archer.

Archer was bought by Rajasthan Royals at the recently concluded IPL auction for Rs 12.5 crore after a bidding war with Mumbai Indians.

“Jofra is always brilliant to deal with,” Key said, in an interview on Wisden Cricket Weekly’s Patreon channel. “We were like, ‘The best thing might be to miss the IPL this year and get yourself ready, and we’ll start building your loads up… if you can get through a bit of Championship cricket, and then you can start the Test summer. He was happy with that.