Archer has not played international cricket since March last year due to an elbow injury, and had a second round of surgery on his elbow in December.
'I thought Virat Kohli was the best batsman I've ever seen because of the way he plays in all forms, but Steve Smith... that's another level.'
Sri Lanka beat England with just one ball to spare to win the second Test at Headingley by 100 runs on Tuesday and take the two-match series 1-0.
Ryan Sidebottom and James Anderson could play for the first time in the series.
Pakistan skipper Shahid Afridi made a dramatic announcement on Friday that he will quit Test cricket and captaincy after his side's second five-day game against Australia next week. After Australia beat Pakistan by 150 runs in the first Test at Lord's Afridi said the second and final match, starting at Headingley on July 21 would be his last.
Billy Root claimed a chunk of family bragging rights over older brother and England Test captain Joe Root on Sunday when the pair came face to face in the County Championship.
AB de Villiers' sixth Test century put South Africa on the verge of winning the second Test at Headingley after England ended the third day 269 runs behind the visitors on Sunday.
Delhi's young wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant got his maiden Test call-up as he was picked up as the additional glovesman along with Dinesh Karthik after Wriddhiman Saha was ruled out with injury for the upcoming five-match Test series against England.
Pakistan scrambled the 40 runs they required to beat Australia by three wickets in the second Test at Headingley on Saturday to level the series at 1-1.
He suffered a fracture of the big toe on his left foot after being hit by Andrew Hall while batting in the fourth Test.
The leg-spinner was England's best bowler in their 2-1 triumph in the one-day series against India which concluded earlier this week, prompting talk of a possible Test return.
England named an unchanged squad for the second test against New Zealand starting on Friday after batsman Ian Bell was declared fit following a bout of tonsillitis.
Pacer Ollie Robinson destroyed India's batting line-up with a five-wicket haul to power England to a huge victory by an innings and 76 runs, on Day 4 of the third Test, at Leeds on Saturday.
He replaces Nasser Hussain, who retired last week after his unbeaten century in the first Test at Lord's.
Images from the first day of the fourth Ashes Test between Australia and England at Leeds, on Friday.
England's faltering Ashes campaign recieved a fillip after talismanic all-rounder Andrew Flintoff was declared fit for his Test farewell in the series-deciding fifth and final match against Australia starting August 20 at The Oval.
England declared on 373 for nine wickets in their second innings on the third day of the fifth Ashes Test against Australia at the Oval on Saturday.
Moeen Ali scored a majestic century as England amassed an impressive first-innings total by lunch on Day Two of the second Test against Sri Lanka in Durham.
Broad said 'Baz' McCullum had already made a difference.
The West Indies beat England by five wickets in the second Test at Headingley on Tuesday to level the three-match series at 1-1.
Eclipsing several other great individual knocks, VVS Laxman's masterly innings of 281 against Australia at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata has been rated as the greatest Test performance of the last 50 years.
Jonny Bairstow says England's new desire to play Test cricket "different to the norm" gave him the confidence to launch his brutal assault on New Zealand's bowlers and wrestle back the momentum on the second day of the third Test at Headingley.
Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi on Friday said that a side strain might stop him from playing even the second Test against Australia at Headingley, after which he desires to retire from the five-day version of the game.
England beat the West Indies on the fourth day of the second Test by an innings and 283 runs.
Captain Michael Vaughan scored a fluent 103 on his return to Test action after 18 months on the sidelines on the opening day of the second Test against West Indies at Headingley on Friday.
Yorkshire county has expressed its keenness to stage a Test between Pakistan and India at Headingley here if the two arch Asian rivals are to play a series at a neutral venue next year.
Uncapped duo Jake Ball and James Vince have been named in England's squad for their home test against Sri Lanka at Headingley on May 19, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) announced on Thursday.
The England pacer Ollie Robinson says his legendary teammate Jimmy Anderson helped him tweak his wobble grip ball technique, third Test.
England fast bowler James Anderson claimed his 400th Test wicket when he had New Zealand's Martin Guptill caught at slip by Ian Bell for nought in the second Test at Headlingley, Leeds.
Test match cricket faces a bleak future with the sport's administrators failing to control the 'runaway weed' of the hugely popular Twenty20 format, former West Indies pace bowler Michael Holding said.
It is learnt that Test team vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane has been kept on standby for the limited overs series against England in case Rohit Sharma fails to clear the 16.1 qualifying mark.
'I am happy people are talking about me -- I always believe people talk about important people. I am not too concerned about that. It is all about contribution for the team.'
England have recalled bowler James Anderson, all-rounder Ben Stokes and leg-spinner Adil Rashid to a 14-man squad for the second Test against Pakistan at Old Trafford starting on Friday.
Jasprit Bumrah, the fastest Indian pacer to 50 wickets, is now seventh in the bowlers' list after a leap of nine places owing to his five-wicket haul against the West Indies.
England are placed fourth with two points. They also lost two points, earned from the drawn opening match in Nottingham, because of their slow over rate.
Rajneesh Gupta presents all the interesting numbers from Day 3 of the India-England Test at Leeds.
Ben Stokes, who played a few memorable knocks this year, especially at the ICC World Cup final and then powering England to victory at Headingley in the Ashes, beat Lewis Hamilton, Raheem Sterling among others to win the coveted crown.
Pacer Craig Overton says England still hold all the aces going into Day 4 of the third Test against India, at Headingley, Leeds, on Saturday.
'We felt a bit like we got the Ashes stolen the other day'
It was captain Joe Root once again, who led from the front with a splendid century, to put England in complete control of the third Test.