England fast bowler Jofra Archer will have surgery on his troublesome right elbow on Friday.
The 26-year-old had an injection for the long-standing problem in March and has played only two matches since then.
He managed just five overs in the second innings of Sussex’s draw with Kent last week.
A timeframe on his recovery is yet to be given in a year that includes the Twenty20 World Cup and an Ashes series in Australia.
“Jofra Archer has been reviewed by a medical consultant in respect of his right elbow soreness. He will now proceed to surgery tomorrow,” said an England and Wales Cricket Board statement.
“Further updates will be released in due course.”
Archer has played 13 Tests, 17 one-day internationals and 12 T20s for England, and was part of the team that won the World Cup in 2019.
He missed a number of matches on the tour of South Africa at the beginning of 2020 with the elbow problem then was also ruled out of the fourth Test against India earlier this year because of the same issue.
The Barbados-born bowler sat out the aborted Indian Premier League, during which time he had an operation to remove glass from his hand, an injury he sustained when cleaning a fish tank at home.
He made his return this month, first in the Sussex second team then against Kent in the County Championship – and it emerged on Saturday he had told Sussex captain Ben Brown he was not fit to bowl.
In all, his comeback consisted of fewer than 50 overs.
