England were forced to drop Jofra Archer from their playing XI in the first Test against New Zealand at Lordโs to manage his workload. The ace pacer played 16 games for Rajasthan Royals in the IPL and claimed 25 wickets, finishing as the third-leading wicket-taker of the tournament. The 31-year-old barely had any rest, leading to England team management taking the call to rest him from the New Zealand Test.
The decision has eventually created a major controversy in the English cricket circuit, with many former cricketers calling out the IPL. They believe that international cricket should be given the first priority and believe that the ECB should have called back Archer early to protect his workload.ย
However, England captain Ben Stokes shared his perspective, stating that if they stop Archer from playing franchise cricket, he might stop playing for England at all. He also assured that it’s just a one-time thing and Archer is committed to serving England cricket in the coming times.ย
“I totally understand people’s frustrations around it, but there is another side to it. A lot of it has to do with the landscape of cricket, and where it is at the moment,” Stokes said.
“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,โ he added.
New Zealand opt to bowl first
New Zealand have won the toss and elected to bowl first at Lordโs. Stokes shared that he would have loved to do the same. He also revealed that Emilio Gay is set for Test debut, while Sonny Baker has to wait for his opportunity.ย
New Zealand (Playing XI): Tom Latham (c), Devon Conway, Kane Williamson, Rachin Ravindra, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Blundell (wk), Glenn Phillips, Nathan Smith, Kyle Jamieson, Matt Henry, William OโRourke
England (Playing XI): Emilio Gay, Ben Duckett, Jacob Bethell, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Jamie Smith (wk), Ben Stokes (c), Gus Atkinson, Ollie Robinson, Josh Tongue, Shoaib Bashir
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