Jofra Archer to miss ENG vs NZ 1st Test, Jacob Bethell & Rehan Ahmed to join camp after IPL 2026

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has announced the England men’s cricket team’s squad for the first Test against New Zealand, starting June 4 at Lord’s. After a disastrous Ashes 2025-26, the ECB has decided to drop Zak Crawley, Ollie Pope, Matthew Potts, Will Jacks, and Shoaib Bashir from the Test team.

Jofra Archer rested

Bashir travelled Down Under but wasn’t given a game with Jacks playing ahead of him as the front-line spinner. The all-rounder didn’t perform badly, but the selectors have decided to recall Rehan Ahmed in his place. County Championship performers Emilio Gay and James Rew come in for Crawley and Pope. Sonny Baker has received his maiden Test call-up, replacing Potts.

Ollie Robinson, who last played for England in 2024, returns to the team. Matthew Fisher, who didn’t get a game in the Ashes, has been persisted with since Mark Wood and Brydon Carse are unavailable owing to injuries. Jofra Archer has been rested for the first Test since he’s been playing non-stop cricket since last November. He’ll currently playing for the Rajasthan Royals.

“Jofra Archer is unavailable for the first Test. He continues to play in the IPL, and it is about building him up for red-ball cricket after a long six months on the road.” England men’s cricket team managing director, Rob Key, said.

Jacob Bethell might leave for England as late as April 1, giving him no time to prepare for the England vs New Zealand 1st Test | Image Credit: AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool via Alamy

IPL duties to delay Test preparations

The squad will assemble on May 24 at Loughborough for training. However, Rehan Ahmed and Jacob Bethell won’t join them. Currently, both are playing in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026. Although Rehan has yet to play for the Delhi Capitals, he’ll stay with the squad as Ben Duckett’s replacement.

Delhi’s campaign will end on May 24 in Kolkata, and Rehan can fly to England afterwards. However, Bethell might need to stay back for longer. His team, the Royal Challengers Bengaluru, is expected to qualify for the IPL 2026 playoffs. In the worst-case scenario, he’ll stay back in India until May 27, and if RCB reach the final, until May 31. This would mean he would virtually have no time to prepare for the England vs New Zealand 1st Test.

England squad for first New Zealand Test

Ben Stokes (c), Rehan Ahmed, Gus Atkinson, Sonny Baker, Shoaib Bashir, Jacob Bethell, Harry Brook (vc), Ben Duckett, Matthew Fisher, Emilio Gay, James Rew (wk), Ollie Robinson, Joe Root, Jamie Smith (wk), Josh Tongue

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