England captain Ben Stokes has warned leading players such as Jofra Archer could be driven away from international cricket if England attempt to limit their Indian Premier League commitments.

Several months after their embarrassing 4-1 Ashes series loss in Australia, England return to Test cricket against New Zealand at Lord’s on Thursday.

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But they will be without pace spearhead Archer, a member of the Rajasthan Royals team beaten by Gujarat Titans in the IPL last Friday.

The 31-year-old is now in Barbados, the country of his birth, and his availability even for the second Test at the Oval remains uncertain.

Archer has a lucrative England central contract and has been supported by the England and Wales Cricket Board through five years of injury trouble.

Former New Zealand paceman Simon Doull said it was “absolutely ludicrous” that Archer would be absent from the series opener.

“It’s ludicrous. Absolutely ludicrous,” he told Sky Sports.

“How are you paying this guy up to a £1m per year and he’s not available for your first Test match? It is absolutely ludicrous.

“The last time that New Zealand came here… Tim Southee, Trent Boult and Matt Henry were all practising in between games in the IPL with a red ball and getting through overs and overs and overs so that they were ready to go when they arrived.

“I think they arrived five days before the first Test after the IPL and that previous tour. OK, it didn’t work out. New Zealand lost the series 3-0. But there is no reason that Archer couldn’t have been bowling six, seven overs each in between days.

“The fact that he’s not doing that tells me he has no interest in playing Test cricket.

“In between days, he needs to be bowling five overs, six overs, seven overs with the red ball so that he’s ready to go.

“And there’s enough time. If you’re doing that in between games, there’s enough time to come back here for a week and get ready for a Test match. There’s no issue with that.

“So I think it’s completely wrong.”

Rajasthan Royals’ Jofra Archer celebrates the wicket of Sunrisers Hyderabad’s Travis Head during the Indian Premier League.Source: AP

But Stokes told reporters at Lord’s on Wednesday that top white-ball players could be lost to Test cricket if they had to make themselves available for every match.

“I totally understand people’s frustrations around it, but there is another side to it,” he said.

“A lot of it has to do with the landscape of cricket and where it is at the moment.

“A lot of points people are making around Jof and that situation are to do with the landscape when they were playing.

“But it’s completely different now. There are opportunities for cricketers now that there were not 10, 15, 20 years ago.”

England captain Ben Stokes speaks to the media during a press conference at Lord’s Cricket Ground.Source: Getty Images

Stokes said Archer’s desire to play for his country was unquestionable, warning against a hard line approach.

“There is a situation where it could get messy and players like Jofra might not play for England again if you handle it in a different way, and that is not good for there anyone,” he said.

“Jofra has shown that he’s committed and loves playing for England. Just because he’s not available for this first Test match does not change that.”

Jacob Bethell represented Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the 20-over IPL but is in the England team at Lord’s, the first of a three-Test series.

The batter has played no meaningful red-ball cricket since his stunning Ashes century in Sydney in January.

“It’s just one of those things. You have your number three (Bethell), he has a great couple of games out in Australia, then he spends nine or 10 weeks out in India and you are seeing him two days before a Test match,” said Stokes.

“That is almost becoming the norm. The game is changing all the time. There are some things you have to roll with and accept, it is what it is.”