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

Ben Stokes has assured England that he will return in 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 breaking a finger playing for Rajasthan in 2021 when he travels to India next month to join his new team Chennai Super Kings in a £1.6m deal.

But on Wednesday he insisted that he will return to prepare for the start of a great summer by facing Ireland on June 1, even if Chennai reach the final stages of a tournament that ends just four days before the start of the Test.

“I’ll make sure I give myself plenty of time to come back and play in that Ireland game,” Stokes said ahead of Thursday night’s second and final Test here.

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

Stokes (left) will also consult with a number of England players playing in the IPL

“I will go through the players and ask them what they want to play to be ready for the Ashes,” Stokes said.

“It’s one of those where we’ll have to weigh what the guy wants to do against whether he really needs to play against Ireland.”

“The Ashes is the most important thing and we want to do our best to prepare for that.”

Stokes will try to lead England to back-to-back Test victories over New Zealand, after his team prevailed at the Bay Oval last week.