All posts tagged: England cricket team selection news

‘He is committed and loves playing for England’

‘He is committed and loves playing for England’

2 min readJun 3, 2026 10:36 PM IST England captain Ben Stokes said that Jofra Archer is committed to the national team despite the pacer missing the first Test vs New Zealand after wrapping up his Indian Premier League commitments for Rajastha Royals on May 29. On Tuesday, England coach Brendon McCullum also cast doubt on Archer’s availability for the second test, which starts June 17, saying he is having “a little bit of a break at the moment” and needs to be assessed. Due to his unavailability, Archer has faced scrutiny from many experts but skipper Stokes said that it’s a sign of the times with the proliferation of franchise leagues around the world. “A lot of the points that people would be making around Jof and that situation I think are to do with the landscape back when they were playing. It’s completely different now. There’s opportunities for cricketers now that there wasn’t 10, 15, 20 years ago. Yes, in an ideal situation, it would be unbelievably great to have everyone who you …

Doull lashes into Archer for missing 1st NZ vs ENG Test

Doull lashes into Archer for missing 1st NZ vs ENG Test

3 min readJun 3, 2026 04:57 PM IST With England pacer Jofra Archer missing the first England vs New Zealand Test, set to start from Thursday, after his stint with Indian premier League franchise Rajasthan Royals, former Former New Zealand cricketer and broadcaster Simon Doull lashed into the player, saying he has no interest in playing Test cricket. “It’s ludicrous, absolutely ludicrous. How are you paying this guy up to a million pound a year and he’s not available for your first Test match? It’s absolutely ludicrous,” Doull said on Sky Sports. The 56-year-old also named Tim Southee, Trent Boult and Matt Henry as players who should serve as examples for Archer on how to balance IPL and national duties. “The last time New Zealand came here, we go back to that last Bazball series. Tim Southee, Trent Boult, Matt Henry were all practicing in between games in the IPL with the red ball and getting through over and overs and overs so they were ready to go when they arrived. I think they arrived …