Stokes defends Archer’s Test absence and warns strictness risks England’s exit | Ben Stokes

Ben Stokes has defended England’s decision to excuse Jofra Archer from the start of the Test summer so he could compete in the Indian Premier League. He said a more militant approach risks a situation where “players like him may not play for England anymore”.

On Wednesday, Archer came under heavy criticism from former New Zealand bowler Simon Doull, who described his absence as “absolutely ridiculous” and “completely wrong”. Former England batsman Mark Butcher previously said it was “absolutely ridiculous”, while Michael Atherton described it as “incredibly frustrating”.

But while Stokes admitted he “fully understands people’s frustrations around the situation”, especially given that Archer is tied to a central ECB contract that runs until 2027 and theoretically allows the England set-up to determine his schedule, he also suggested the most high-profile critics were stuck in the past.

“There’s another side to it, and a lot of it has to do with the cricketing landscape and where it is at the moment,” the England Test captain said. “I think a lot of the points people have made around Jof and that situation have to do with the landscape when they were playing. But it’s completely different now. There are opportunities now for cricketers that weren’t there 10, 15, 20 years ago.”

“Yes, in an ideal situation it would be incredibly great to have everyone you want available at every opportunity. That’s not the way to play cricket at the moment. There’s so much more for players. There are other opportunities and you want players to be able to do those and play for England as well.”

“There is a situation where things can get messy and players like Jofra might not play for England again if you go about it in a different way, and that is not good for anyone. Jofra has shown that he is committed and enjoys playing for England. The fact that he is not available for this first Test match does not change that.”

Archer has just completed his most successful IPL season, taking 25 wickets for Rajasthan Royals as they reached the play-offs, placing him third in the bowling rankings this year. He played his last match on Friday before flying to Barbados for what Brendon McCullum, the England coach, described as “a little break”. He is expected to play a role in the Test series against New Zealand, but he will not be at Lord’s when the first Test starts on Thursday, and it is not yet known whether he will be available for the second match, which starts at the Oval on June 17.

“It’s ridiculous, absolutely ridiculous,” Doull told Sky. “How do you pay this man up to £1 million a year and he’s not available for your first Test match? There’s no reason Jofra Archer couldn’t have bowled six or seven overs.” [with the red ball] in between [games]. The fact that he doesn’t does that tells me he has no interest in playing Test cricket. And why isn’t the ECB holding talks with the ECB? [Royals] team, saying, ‘We need him to be ready for Test match cricket’? I think it’s completely wrong.”

Stokes admitted his team had developed a habit of ‘consistently letting ourselves down’ at crucial moments in Test matches, a trend that will need to be addressed with their long-awaited reset.

“Honestly, it’s not a huge change,” he said. “As much as people want to hear us say that, it’s not. It’s being a lot smarter in those big moments in games, because I’ll consistently admit that when [they] were at stake, when it was neither one nor the other, we let ourselves down. The decisions we thought were the right ones let the opposition get ahead of us. Especially in the past eighteen months, we have contributed too often to losing cricket matches.”