England will continue to manage Jofra Archer's workload cautiously during the upcoming five ODIs against Australia, after he bowled just 3.3 overs in the rain-affected, drawn T20I series.

Archer has been gradually reintroduced to international cricket this year, playing two T20Is against Pakistan in May before participating in all eight of England's matches in June's T20 World Cup. He skipped the second half of Sussex's Blast group stages and was carefully managed throughout the Hundred, where he was rested twice.

Since the conclusion of the Hundred, Archer has played two matches: one for Sussex in the T20 Blast quarter-final, and the other for England in their loss at the Utilita Bowl on Wednesday. He was rested for Friday's match in Cardiff and would have played in Sunday's decider, had it not been washed out by rain in Manchester. His return has justified England's heavy investment, as he has demonstrated his worth since overcoming the back and elbow injuries that kept him sidelined for so long. Archer was also England's joint-highest wicket-taker at the T20 World Cup in June.

Archer is part of England's 15-man squad for the five-match ODI series starting in Nottingham on Thursday, though he may be rested for one or two games. He hasn't played a 50-over match in the past 18 months, and while he has long-term goals to return to red-ball cricket, his last first-class appearance was in May 2021.

"Jofra will have to be managed throughout the series," Jos Buttler told Sky Sports on Sunday. "He's played a really good stint now of T20 cricket, but obviously you can only bowl four overs in there. There's a jump in intensity getting loads up to taking full part in an ODI - and of course, as an England fan, to push those loads up hopefully to get back into the Test arena as well."

Marcus Trescothick, England's interim coach, said that Archer was "comfortable" with the ECB's long-term plan to manage his workload. "He knows the plan," Trescothick said. "It's discussed long in advance of picking the team on each day. We know what we're doing with him, and where we're going. He's comfortable: he knows what he's doing.

The interim coached added,"That's a bigger structure, in terms of what we're trying to do with Jofra. You come into the series knowing what we've got and what we can do with him. That's an agreed plan between the coaches, directors, physios and all the different people. We'll still be managing him [in the ODIs] - exactly the same thing."