New Zealand v England: Ben Stokes will miss end of IPL for Ireland Test

Ben StokesBCCI

Ben Stokes skipped England's optional training session on Wednesday

By Stephan Shemilt
Chief cricket writer in Wellington

England captain Ben Stokes will miss the end of the Indian Premier League in order to prepare for the Test against Ireland at Lord's.

The four-day Test - England's last before the Ashes - starts on 1 June, four days after the IPL final.

All-rounder Stokes, 31, was bought by Chennai Super Kings for £1.6m in December's auction.

"I'll be making sure I give myself enough time to get back and play the Ireland game," said Stokes.

Jofra Archer, Mark Wood, Harry Brook, Jonny Bairstow and Joe Root are the other likely members of England's Test squad taking part in the IPL, which runs from 31 March to 28 May.

Last year New Zealand's Trent Boult went from playing in the IPL final on 29 May to the first Test against England at Lord's four days later.

Stokes said he will have discussions with the England players over what they feel they need to do in order to be ready for the series against Australia, which begins on 16 June.

"Those five games are obviously the big one of the summer and you've got to think about what lads want," said Stokes.

"You also have to think about is if something was to happen in the Ireland game and we lose someone for the Ashes.

"It's just one of those where you have to weigh up the options of what the individual person actually wants out of that week against the need to play in that game."

Stokes will make his return to the IPL this year after missing the 2022 edition.

In his last game in the competition, for Rajasthan Royals in 2021, he suffered a broken finger that would eventually require two operations and contributed to him taking a break from cricket later that year.

Stokes was speaking in Wellington before England's second Test against New Zealand on Friday (22:00 GMT Thursday).

The tourists are looking to clinch the series after winning the first Test in Mount Maunganui by 267 runs. That was their sixth successive victory, a run of success England have not experienced since 2010.

If Stokes' side win at the Basin Reserve, it will be the first time in 19 years that England have won seven Tests in a row.

"We will leave here on a high regardless," said Stokes. "It's been a great four weeks. We have had a great time on and off the pitch.

"Regardless of the result, we will leave in good spirits and then look forward to the Ashes in the summer."

England are waiting on the fitness of pace bowlers James Anderson, Stuart Broad and Ollie Robinson following the swift turnaround from the first Test, which finished on Sunday.

All three bowled on the square on Wednesday, although Robinson had a lengthy period with the physio beforehand. He and Anderson, who at 40 years old has returned to the top of the International Cricket Council Test bowling rankings, are the biggest doubts, with Broad likely to be fit. Olly Stone and Matthew Fisher are the options to come into the team.

For New Zealand-born Stokes, the Test at the Basin Reserve represents his first in the city that was his home for two years before his family moved to England when he was aged 12.

"I used to do some training here as a kid, but this is the first I've been here properly and it's a beautiful ground," he said.

"Back then I was sharing my time between rugby and cricket. So I was very lucky that I lived down the road from a club which had cricket facilities and rugby facilities as well. There was a lot of time spent down there at the nets playing cricket and rugby."

Related topics