England's devotion to Archer is undeniable – but it may take time for us to fall back in love

Absence supposedly makes the heart grow fonder. And it's a sentiment that appears to resonate with England cricket just as much as star-crossed lovers.

On Thursday Jofra Archer will play his first Test in 1,597 days, and just his 14th in all for England, after being named in the hosts' squad for the third Test at Lord's.

A lot has changed in those 228 weeks. The United Kingdom has had four prime ministers, the Three Lions have reached two European Championship finals, the Lionesses have won one, and England's Test side have played 53 times.

Previous Test comebacks have been aborted by a series of injuries. Two lots of elbow surgery, a stress fracture in his back and even an operation for a cut to his hand sustained when cleaning a fish tank have denied Archer the chance to establish himself at the highest level.

But a gentle approach that has apparently been a "two-year run of taking it very, very slowly", according to England's manager director, Rob Key, has led to Archer being on the cusp of a Test return after the 30-year-old was called up for last week's second Test defeat at Edgbaston.

The rationale for Archer's inclusion is simple: there is an Ashes series to win in Australia this winter and to win in Australia you must have pace. 

It's the reason James Anderson, England's greatest ever bowler, was given a gentle nudge last summer, and it's why seamers such as Josh Tongue, Gus Atkinson and Olly Stone have all been fast-tracked to the Test side in recent years despite not having bundles of first-class experience.

The problem is that, as Archer's career testifies, high pace usually comes with fragility. Stone and Mark Wood, consistently England's quickest bowler for a number of years, are both sidelined and Atkinson has not played since an innings win over Zimbabwe at the end of May. 

Since Archer's last Test, a ten-wicket hiding inside two days on an Ahmedabad wicket that turned square, so much so that Joe Root took five for eight in India's first innings, England have of course undergone the 'Bazball' revolution. 

Yet Archer has never been too far from the thoughts of England's supporters or management. This is the man who was parachuted into the one-day team on the eve of the 2019 World Cup and ended it by bowling the Super Over which saw England become world champions and then took 22 wickets in that year's Ashes, flooring Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschange at Lord's with vicious bouncers for good measure. 

Click here to read Matthew Ireland's third Test preview

Archer was different from other England bowlers. Effortlessly quick and with an ability to change games. 

Key, and the rest of the England hierarchy, clearly still think that is the case, and a fit and firing Archer would be a weapon of immense potential given the pace and bounce you usually get in Australia. 

But taking one wicket in 18 overs against Durham in your first County Championship outing for four years is a vastly different proposition to playing the Aussies, or indeed India, in a Test match, and it would be folly to expect Archer to rock up at Lord's and blow India away circa 2019. 

Fast bowling is a tough game and there aren't many seriously quick bowlers who come back as the same force after injury, let alone as many as Archer has endured. You only have to look at Simon Jones, one of the players of that glorious Ashes summer of 2005. The Welshman never played another Test after England won the fourth match of the series at Trent Bridge, which, criminally, was only his 18th of what should have been a long Test career.

Archer's bowling coach in the IPL this year, former New Zealand star Shane Bond, is another cautionary tale. Bond had searing pace but, like Jones, played only 18 Tests and just eight times after having spinal fusion in surgery in 2003.

Four-and-a-half years of pent-up anticipation will be palpable at Lord's when Archer stands at the end of his mark, and that will only grow if the 30-year-old can still get bums off seats in the way he did six summers ago. But we should all be prepared that it may not be love at first sight all over again.

Now read:

James Milton: Surrey, Bangladesh and an ambidextrous spinner write quirky new chapters in cricket's history 

Mark Langdon: From Guardiola’s title warning to Boca’s 1-1000 blowout - why summer sport still hits hard

Click for free bets and betting offers from the Racing Post

Commercial notice: This article contains affiliate links. Offers are handpicked and come from operators our experts have first-hand experience of. Opening an account via one of these links will earn revenue for the Racing Post, which will be used to continue producing our award-winning coverage of horseracing and sports betting.