England in South Africa: Jofra Archer an injury doubt for Cape Town Test

England bowler Jofra Archer is a doubt for the second Test against South Africa in Cape Town with a right elbow injury.

The 24-year-old did not bowl during training on Wednesday.

The second Test gets under way on Friday, with South Africa one up in the four-Test series following a 107-run win in Centurion.

Archer had missed both warm-up games because of illness, which has affected 11 England players on the tour.

England are expected to include a spinner in their team, with Somerset off-spinner Dom Bess favourite to play ahead of Matt Parkinson and Jack Leach.

The selectors went with four seamers in the first Test, with James Anderson, Stuart Broad and Sam Curran completing the attack alongside Archer.

But with dry conditions at Cape Town expected to produce spin, Jos Buttler says captain Joe Root and head coach Chris Silverwood are open to change.

"Everyone says it looks a good wicket but it is open to the elements so might be a bit of a dry wicket," Buttler told BBC Radio 5 Live.

"I think there is lots of flexibility (in team selection). It's about turning up, looking at the conditions, seeing what you are faced with and trying to come up with the best way of winning the game.

"I know Joe and Chris are very open to lots of different combinations, whether it's a spinner or seamers."

While Archer was unable to bowl in training on Wednesday, Buttler confirmed no players missed the session through illness.

A total of 11 players have so far been affected by a sickness bug during the tour, but the Lancashire wicketkeeper echoed Root's refusal to blame the first-Test defeat on illness.

England twice let South Africa off the hook in the first innings at Centurion - with the hosts recovering from 111-5 to put on 284 before the tourists collapsed from 140-3 to 181 all out.

They were left chasing an improbable 376 to win, and while opener Rory Burns (84) and Root (48) put in spirited performances, it was never going to be enough.

Buttler says the aim is to show those same battling qualities from the opening ball in Cape Town in a bid to seize the initiative, rather than being forced to once again chase the game.

"The way Rory Burns batted in the second innings I thought was worth 150 runs on a few other wickets," he said. "I thought that was fantastic, showing that character, but we have talked about showing that character ahead of the game as well.

"It's when we are backs-to-the-wall that the team shows a lot of character to try and get out of trouble, but can we do that on the front foot and get ahead of the game?"

Source: BBC News

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