Jofra Archer said that recovery from the elbow injury which has hampered him for years has been tough – but he wouldn’t trade his World Cup medal in to have kept fully fit.

The England and Sussex pace bowler recently returned back to the international set up after months on the sideline due to injury.

But despite the major setbacks he has faced in his time out, Archer maintained that he would not change the past to have that time back in the sport.

Speaking to BBC Sport, he said: “I felt like the best I ever bowled was when I had it. When I got the scans, I was very confused, even the physios said they’ve never seen nothing like that in cricket.

“I feel like people get injured all the time and no one plans to get injured. I’m definitely choosing my medal.

“Being able to lift the trophy at the end of it is something special. The memories that we made that year will last for a very, very long time.”

Archer has been making his return ahead of England’s defence of their T20 World Cup crown having won the competition in 2022.

The pace bowler has suffered from an elbow injury for years which required surgery.

More recently he had been dealing with a stress fracture of the back which kept him sidelined.

Archer says he spent much of his recovery in Barbados, where he was born and his family live.

He said it would be “really nice” to play in front of his family, with the T20 World Cup partially hosted in Barbados this year.

He returned to training with Sussex in April and impressed in a Second XI fixture before heading out on international duty.

Archer took two wickets for 23 runs in England’s only warm up game so far against Pakistan.

His return at Edgbaston was the first time he had played for England on home soil since 2020.

Tuesday evening’s match in Cardiff was rained off, while he will hope to get more overs under his belt at The Oval tonight.

The T20 World Cup begins in Dallas on Sunday, while England begin their defence in Barbados against Scotland on Tuesday.