Jofra Archer missed out on being included in England's World Cup squad because he didn't have time to demonstrate his fitness and will only fly to India as a substitute unless "something wonderful" happens in his recovery from injury.

Pacer Jofra Archer has not made the England squad for the upcoming New Zealand series, nor is he part of the provisional squad for the upcoming ODI World Cup. Notably, he suffered an unfortunate elbow injury during the 16th edition of the IPL and returned home early afterwards to focus on the Ashes. However, Archer failed to recover in time and missed the series. As things stand, the 28-year-old is also close to missing the World Cup, which is due to start in India on October 5.

Archer was England's top wicket-taker when England won the tournament four years ago, capping their triumph in the final with a nervous super over, but has not played since the IPL earlier this year with a stress fracture in his elbow.

Luke Wright, an England selector and Archer's former Sussex team-mate, said England were "desperate" for him to get fit but that they would not "force him to play" prematurely while he was rehabilitating.

“There must be a duty of care to Jof. We know how desperately we all want to have him - there's no doubt about it - but we need to make it right for him too. He was very unlucky with those injuries. Unfortunately, when it comes to the World Cup, we're just running out of time.

"He's not going to recover fast enough, especially in the first part of the World Cup. He has a duty of care. We have to make sure we're doing it right over the long term because we see it as a big win for a long time. As tempting as it is to rush him and get him to start this World Cup, unfortunately we're just running out of time," Wright was quoted as saying.

In his absence, meanwhile, England have called up Gus Atkinson, who is in excellent form at the moment. The 25-year-old doesn't have enough List-A cricket experience but given his form, management are expected to back him up.