England’s Ben Stokes will leave the Indian Premier League (IPL) early to prepare for a one-off Test against Ireland in June and the subsequent Ashes series against Australia, the star all-rounder has said.
England Test captain Stokes skipped last year’s IPL but was sold to Chennai Super Kings for a staggering $1.96mn in December’s auction.
The IPL final is scheduled on May 28, while England host Ireland in a one-off test at the Lord’s from June 1 and begin their home Ashes campaign in Edgbaston on June 16.
“Yes, I’ll play,” Stokes said of the Ireland match.
“I’ll be making sure that I give myself enough time to get back and play that game.”
Several of his England teammates, who have been picked up by IPL sides, will also have to make a decision though Stokes hinted some of them could be allowed to miss the Ireland game.
“I’ll probably get round the individuals and ask them what they want to be ready for the Ashes, because those five games are obviously the big ones of the summer, and you’ve got to think about what lads want,” Stokes said in Wellington.
“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, versus do we really need to play that one.”
England’s managing director of men’s cricket, Rob Key, accepted it was becoming difficult for their non-contracted players to turn down “life-changing” deals from franchises to play bilateral cricket.
“At the moment, we can’t physically get our strongest team to every single game England play,” Key told Wisden Cricket Monthly.
“You’re talking $500,000 or $600,000 for a few weeks’ work, in some cases. If you’re not on a central contract then the difference is huge.
“There’s not a person in the world that would actually sit there and go, ‘do you know what, I’m not bothered about that amount of money’. You’re talking about life-changing amounts of money.”
Stokes yesterday was full of praise for James Anderson, set to play his 179th Test for England against New Zealand today. At age 40, Anderson is ranked number one bowler on the ICC computer.
“Albeit him being 40, I just can’t see him stopping,” Stokes said yesterday. “Every time he turns out there, he’s one of the main guys you throw the ball to when you feel like you need a wicket. He’s just relentless with everything that he does. We’re very lucky to have him. Rightfully so he’s back at the top. I know sometimes those rankings don’t mean much to people, but in our opinion, he has been one of the best, if not the best, for longer than what these rankings say,” Stokes added.

Yorkshire admit documents deleted in cricket race case
Yorkshire have confirmed documents relating to allegations of racism against the county cricket club were deleted under the previous regime.
A Cricket Discipline Commission hearing will start in London next week but no Yorkshire representatives will be present after they admitted to four amended charges brought by the England and Wales Cricket Board over the club’s handling of former player Azeem Rafiq’s allegations.
It has now been confirmed that one of the charges relates to the deletion or destruction of both electronic and paper documents but while this occurred before current chairman Kamlesh Patel took over, the county would not say who was responsible.
“After 5 November 2021, it was discovered that e-mails and documents, both held electronically by the club and in paper copy, had been irretrievably deleted from both servers and laptops and otherwise destroyed,” a club statement said.
“After a thorough independent investigation it was established that the deletion and destruction of documents date from a time period prior to the appointment of Lord Patel and relate to the allegations of racism and the club’s response to those allegations.
“The club is not prepared to conjecture publicly as to why this occurred, who was responsible or the motivation for doing so.”
Next week’s disciplinary hearing will start on Wednesday but the only charged individual still set to appear is ex-England captain Michael Vaughan.
Andrew Gale, Matthew Hoggard, Tim Bresnan, Richard Pyrah and John Blain have refused to engage with the process.
The Cricket Discipline Commission panel will still hear the charges against those five in their absence.
Gary Ballance, also charged, has already admitted using racially discriminatory language and will not appear.
Pakistan-born Rafiq, 31, first raised allegations of racism and bullying in September 2020, related to his two spells at Yorkshire. He told a British parliamentary committee in December 2022 that the abuse he and his family had faced had forced him to leave the UK.