Ben Stokes insists he will lead England in Ashes warm-up Test against Ireland by leaving IPL

Ben Stokes has assured England he will return in good time from the Indian Premier League to lead his side in what is essentially an Ashes warm-up Test against Ireland at Lord’s.

Stokes will appear in the IPL for the first time since he badly broke a finger playing for Rajasthan in 2021 when he travels to India next month to join his new side Chennai Super Kings in a £1.6million deal.

But he insisted today he will be back to prepare for the start of a huge summer by facing Ireland on June 1 even if Chennai reach the final stages of a tournament that finishes just four days before the start of the Test.

‘I’ll be making sure I give myself enough time to come back and play in that Ireland game,’ said Stokes ahead of Thursday night’s second and final Test here.

But the England captain will consult with England’s other IPL players likely to be included in the Test squad – Harry Brook, Mark Wood, Jonny Bairstow, Jofra Archer and Joe Root – to decide how long they should spend in India and whether they should face Ireland.

Ben Stokes has assured England he will return in good time from the Indian Premier League to prepare for the Ashes

Stokes will consult with a number of England players who are playing in the IPL about the amount of time they should spend in India

‘I will go round the players and ask them what they want to play to be ready for the Ashes,’ said Stokes. 

‘It’s one of those where we will have to weigh up what the individual wants to do against whether they really need to play against Ireland. 

‘The Ashes is the biggest thing and we want to do what’s best to prepare for that.’

Stokes will try and lead England to back-to-back Test wins over New Zealand, after his side came out on top at the Bay Oval last week.