Ben Stokes has defended England's decision to excuse Jofra Archer from the start of the Test summer to compete in the Indian Premier League, warning that a more militant approach risks a situation where “players like him might not play for England again”.
Archer has faced strong criticism from former players, including Simon Doull, who called his absence “absolutely ludicrous” and “completely wrong”. Mark Butcher described it as “absolutely ridiculous”, while Michael Atherton called it “incredibly frustrating”.
Stokes acknowledged the frustrations but suggested critics were stuck in the past. “There’s another side to it, and a lot of it’s got to do with the landscape of cricket and where it is at the moment,” he said. “I 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’s completely different now.”
Archer has just completed his most successful IPL season, taking 25 wickets for Rajasthan Royals. He played his last game on Friday before flying to Barbados for a break. He is expected to play some part in the Test series against New Zealand but will miss the first Test starting Thursday at Lord's.
Stokes also admitted his team had developed a habit of “consistently letting ourselves down” in crunch moments, which their much-trailed reset is intended to address. “It’s being a lot smarter in those big moments in games,” he said.
