England's Ben Stokes warns of player exodus over IPL stance

Captain Ben Stokes has warned that players could abandon international cricket if England take a hardline stance on the Indian Premier League.

Fast bowler Jofra Archer is missing the first Test against New Zealand at Lord's following his IPL stint and may not be ready to play in the second.

"In an ideal situation it would be unbelievably great to have everyone who you want available at every single opportunity. That is not the way of cricket at the moment," said Stokes.

"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 anyone.

"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."

Archer was part of the Rajasthan Royals team beaten in the IPL qualifier by Gujarat Titans on Friday.

The 31-year-old is now in Barbados, the country of his birth, and will not return to England until after the first Test. The second Test at The Oval begins on 17 June.

Archer's absence from the first Test at Lord's means England are without their premier fast bowler as they look to rebuild following the 4-1 Ashes defeat in Australia.

Former England captains Michael Atherton and Michael Vaughan are among those to question Archer's unavailability.

"I know that whole situation has been spoken about a lot over the last couple of weeks. I totally understand people's frustrations around it, but there is another side to it," said Stokes.

"A lot of points people are making around Jof and that situation are to do with the landscape when they were playing. It's completely different now. There are opportunities for cricketers now that there were not 10, 15, 20 years ago.

"There is so much more out there for players. I get both sides of the story. The 'why is Jof not here?' But I also understand that there are other opportunities and you want players to be able to do them."

Archer made his return to Test cricket last July after a four-year injury absence. The Sussex man was kept on a lucrative central contract during his time away from the Test arena.

He signed for Rajasthan for the 2025 IPL season on a deal worth about £1.2m. Recent changes to the IPL's rules mean any players who withdraw for anything other than medical reasons can be banned from the competition for two years.

Batter Jacob Bethell was also at the IPL with Royal Challengers Bengaluru, but made an early return from India because of a finger injury.

Bethell's IPL stint means he has not played a red-ball match since the final Ashes Test in Sydney in January, when he made a breakthrough century.

At Lord's he will bat at number three in a home Test for the first time.

"It's just one of those things," said Stokes. "You have your number three, 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.

"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."

England have not named their XI for the first Test after Wednesday's training session was hit by rain, with the pitch remaining covered for most of the day.

Gus Atkinson seems likely to play ahead of the uncapped Sonny Baker, but England could opt to omit off-spinner Shoaib Bashir in favour of an all-seam attack if the weather delays the beginning of the match by a day or more.