South Africa captain Temba Bavuma's participation in the on-going first Test against India was thrown into jeopardy after he limped off the field with a left hamstring strain in Centurion on Tuesday.
Injuries prevented Archer appearing in subsequent Ashes series but the 30-year-old is now fit and firing and will be part of England's high-octane pace attack that many think could power them to a first series win in Australia since 2010-11.
Australia dominated day two of the second Ashes Test on Friday with a punishing batting assault on a lifeless Gabba pitch as England fumbled their chances in the field.
'I had prepared myself for this. I was getting dismissed (after half-centuries) so my plan was to play as much as I can with the straight bat and keep it simple after reaching fifty.'
India U-19 completed their clean sweep of Australia U-19 in the latter's backyard with a seven-wicket win in the second and final Youth Test, in Mackay on Wednesday.
BCCI Data Analyst Hari Prasad Mohan is among the many whose quiet contributions in the background often lay the foundations for Team India's success.
Stand-in-skipper Tahlia McGrath lauded "world-class" Annabel Sutherland and Ashleigh Gardner for bailing Australia out of early wobble and guiding them to a six-wicket win over England in the Women's World Cup match, in Indore, on Wednesday.
Who do you think should be part of India's playing for the first Test against South Africa?
Vaibhav Suryavanshi smashed a T20-style 86-ball 113, while Vedant Trivedi made a patient 140 as India Under-19 took a commanding 185-run lead against Australia Under-19 on Day 2 of the first Youth Test.
Senuran Muthusamy and Marco Jansen made Indian finger spinners' look ordinary in good batting conditions with invaluable lower-order contributions as South Africa seized control of the second Test.
Shubman Gill said he could not have asked for a better all-round performance from his team after they hammered the West Indies by an innings and 140 runs in the first Test.
Manchester City's Erling Haaland became the fastest player to reach 100 Premier League goals to ignite their charge on Tuesday.
England recovered from a disastrous start as captain Brook bludgeoned 135 from 101 balls and Jamie Overton made 46 to help their side finish on 223 all out in 35.2 overs for a fighting chance in the contest.
Abid Mushtaq took seven wickets as Jammu and Kashmir trounced Hyderabad by 281 runs in Elite Group D Ranji Trophy match, in Jammu, on Wednesday.
Suryakumar Yadav is known for his cheerful personality and friendly nature and on Friday evening, the Indian T20 skipper lit up the faces of the Oman players with a simple act of generosity that went far beyond the outcome of the Asia Cup game.
In reply, India were 144 for 7 from 40 overs at the draw of stumps with Henil and Deepesh batting on 22 and 6 respectively.
Youth ODIs: Vedant, Rahul shine as India make clean sweep of series vs Australia
K L Rahul might be asked to keep wickets to bolster the batting.
Even as the conditions changed, bright sunshine alternating with gloom, the Indian batters gritted their teeth and fought it out.
India have a mounting worry in the lack of runs so far from talismanic Smriti Mandhana, skipper Harmanpreet Kaur and the energetic Jemimah Rodrigues.
Ashleigh Gardner hailed Australia's strength in depth as key to giving her the freedom to score her match-winning century against New Zealand in the women's World Cup match in Indore on Wednesday.
Pacer Gurjapneet Singh, who earned an India A call on Sunday, picked up the scalps of Shubham Sharma and the promoted Saransh Jain, who was later adjudged player of the series, to create some anxious moments in the Central camp.
Sanjay Bangar felt a wicket could fall at any moment due to the pressure applied by Indian seamers on the England batters
India overpowered New Zealand by 53 runs via the Duckworth-Lewis method to seal their place in the semi-finals of the Women's ODI World Cup.
England edged India by just four runs in a nerve-wracking finish to storm into the Women's World Cup semi-finals on Sunday night in Indore.
"He has taken to Test cricket like duck to water," Nasser Hussain, who was on-air, said.
'I think we have got a very settled batting lineup. Would not like to shuffle it around too much but when the need arises, you know we are flexible about it.'
The cricket fraternity hailed India's maiden Test win at Centurion on Thursday, with Virat Kohli's bowling attack coming in for special praise from greats such as Sachin Tendulkar.
For spin great Neetu David it was a culmination of a lifelong dream -- to see the India women's team finally end their wait for a World title.
As many as 16 wickets fell on the opening day as visitors Hyderabad were left reeling at 88/6 after bundling out Jammu and Kashmir for 170 on the opening day of their Ranji Trophy Elite Group D match in Jammu on Sunday.
Round up of all the Ranji Trophy action on Thursday
The Indian team under Gautam Gambhir's coaching has been about multi-skilled cricketers, and Washington Sundar feels blessed that he is one of them.
Shubman Gill's unbeaten 129 in Delhi wasn't just another century; it was history etched in numbers and intent.
'Tomorrow we can just focus on doing a good warm-up, get the boys ready to hopefully get the ball in the right area and create a little bit of excitement again.'
On Monday, Chaturvedi became the first quadruple centurion in the Cooch Behar Trophy final as his knock earned Karnataka their maiden title in the U19 tournament.
Deepak Hooda smashed a brilliant double hundred to put Rajasthan in control as they took a massive lead against Mumbai on Day 3 of the Ranji Trophy Elite Group D match.
Not many teams have a "purpose" like West Indies in Test cricket, Gambhir to Caribbeans
An excellent exhibition of spin and some fantastic death overs bowling by Taskin Ahmed and Mustafizur Rahman took Bangladesh to a nail-biting eight run win over Afghanistan in their Asia Cup clash at Abu Dhabi on Tuesday.
'India captain Rohit Sharma pleaded guilty to the offence and accepted the proposed sanction, so there was no need for a formal hearing.'
South Africa captain Temba Bavuma has been ruled out of the two-Test series against Zimbabwe that starts in Bulawayo on June 28 after he failed to recover from a hamstring injury sustained in the World Test Championship final win over Australia at Lord's.
