{"id":713433,"date":"2026-06-03T21:59:08","date_gmt":"2026-06-03T21:59:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/713433\/"},"modified":"2026-06-03T21:59:08","modified_gmt":"2026-06-03T21:59:08","slug":"stokes-defends-archers-test-absence-and-warns-strictness-risks-england-exit-ben-stokes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/713433\/","title":{"rendered":"Stokes defends Archer\u2019s Test absence and warns strictness risks England exit | Ben Stokes"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ben Stokes has defended England\u2019s decision to excuse Jofra Archer from the start of the Test summer so he could compete in the Indian Premier League, saying a more militant approach risks a situation where \u201cplayers like him might not play for England again\u201d.<\/p>\n

On Wednesday Archer was strongly criticised by the former New Zealand bowler Simon Doull, who described his absence as \u201cabsolutely ludicrous\u201d and \u201ccompletely wrong\u201d. The former England batter Mark Butcher has previously said it was \u201cabsolutely ridiculous\u201d, while Michael Atherton described it as \u201cincredibly frustrating\u201d.<\/p>\n

But while Stokes admitted he \u201ctotally understands people\u2019s frustrations around the situation\u201d, particularly given that Archer is tied to an ECB central contract which runs until 2027 and in theory allows the England setup to determine his schedule, he also suggested its most high-profile critics were stuck in the past.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s another side to it, and a lot of it\u2019s got to do with the landscape of cricket and where it is at the moment,\u201d England\u2019s Test captain said. \u201cI think a lot of the points that people have been making around Jof and that situation are to do with the landscape when they were playing. But it\u2019s completely different now. There\u2019s opportunities for cricketers now that there wasn\u2019t 10, 15, 20 years ago.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, in an ideal situation it would be unbelievably great to have everyone you want available at every single opportunity. That is not the way of cricket at the moment. There is so much more out there for players. There are other opportunities and you want players to be able to do them, and also to play for England.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere 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 anyone. Jofra has shown that he\u2019s committed and loves playing for England. Just because he\u2019s not available for this first Test match does not change that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Archer has just completed his most successful IPL<\/a> season, taking 25 wickets for Rajasthan Royals as they reached the playoffs, putting him third in this year\u2019s bowling rankings. He played his last game on Friday, before flying to Barbados for what Brendon McCullum, the England coach, described as \u201ca little bit of a break\u201d. He is expected to play some part in the Test series against New Zealand but will not be at Lord\u2019s when the first Test starts on Thursday, and it is not yet known whether he will be available for the second game, which begins at the Oval on 17 June.<\/p>\n

Jofra Archer in action for England during the Ashes series in Australia last winter. Photograph: Nigel Owen\/Action Plus\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s ludicrous, absolutely ludicrous,\u201d Doull told Sky<\/a>. \u201cHow are you paying this guy up to \u00a31m a year and he\u2019s not available for your first Test match? There\u2019s no reason that Jofra Archer couldn\u2019t have been bowling six or seven overs [with the red ball] in between [games]. The fact that he is not doing that tells me he has no interest in playing Test cricket. And why are the ECB not then having discussions with the [Royals] team, saying: \u2018We need him to be ready for Test match cricket\u2019? I think it\u2019s completely wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stokes admitted that his team had developed a habit of \u201cconsistently letting ourselves down\u201d at crunch moments in Test matches, a trend which their much-trailed reset is intended to address.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not a massive change, to be honest,\u201d he said. \u201cAs much as people want to hear us say that, it\u2019s not. It\u2019s being a lot smarter in those big moments in games, because I will admit that consistently when [they] were in the balance, when it was neither one way nor the other, we let ourselves down. The decisions we thought were the right ones to make let the opposition get ahead of us. Especially over the past 18 months we\u2019ve contributed towards losing games of cricket on too much of a consistent basis.\u201d<\/p>\n