Michael Vaughan has voiced his disappointment that Jofra Archer will not be available for England’s first home Test of the summer, against New Zealand, because he is staying on with Rajasthan Royals in the IPL.
The scheduling problem
Vaughan referred to the arrangement between the ECB and the BCCI that lets English players finish their IPL commitments even when international fixtures follow soon afterwards. He said this repeated overlap leaves an awkward situation in which franchise cricket appears to come before Test matches.
Speaking on Cricbuzz, he stressed that centrally contracted players are highly valued by the ECB and, in his opinion, should put national duty ahead of franchise leagues when dates clash.
Vaughan’s argument
Vaughan expects Archer to be in the squad for the second Test in mid-June. He said English cricket has a problem if Archer was always going to stay for the whole IPL, because the England contract has looked after him on a handsome deal for some years. In his view, the international contract outweighs any franchise.
He accepted that franchise leagues are great for players but said that putting them above a Test match is a real problem. If he were Rob Key or Brendon McCullum, he said, he would want his best bowler at Lord’s for the first Test against New Zealand.
What comes next
Archer is expected to play at least two more matches for Rajasthan, with another possible if they reach the playoffs. England’s series against New Zealand begins on 4 June, only days after the IPL final, which has intensified the debate over workload and availability.
