England Test captain Ben Stokes will be absent from next year’s Indian Premier League after electing against entering this month’s player auction in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
The IPL confirmed 52 Englishmen are among 1,574 individuals who have put themselves forward to go under the hammer on November 24 and 25 but the PA news agency understands Stokes is not among that number.
Stokes opted out of this year’s IPL and the T20 World Cup in order to focus on his fitness and get back to being a fully-fledged all-rounder for the Test series against the West Indies and Sri Lanka.
A hamstring injury suffered in The Hundred led to Stokes missing the 2-1 win over Sri Lanka and last month’s series opener in Pakistan, and it seems he is prioritising England’s Test side once more.
The one wrinkle in Stokes’ decision also means he will be unable to compete in the 2026 IPL, with new rules decreeing overseas players who did not enter this auction would be ineligible next year.
While Stokes, the IPL’s most valuable player in 2017, sits out, it has been reported former England team-mate James Anderson, who has not played a T20 since August 2014, has thrown his hat into the ring.
The 42-year-old holds the record for the most Test wickets by a non-spinner in history, ending his England career in emotional scenes at Lord’s in July before settling into a coaching role thereafter.
But Anderson has yet to officially announce his retirement and told PA in August he felt like he “could do a job” on the franchise circuit.
The IPL, which is yet to reveal when its 18th edition will start and end although it ran from March 22 to May 26 this year, has not communicated the identities of those who have put themselves forward.
With each franchise able to have a maximum squad of 25 players, there are 204 spots to be filled at the auction and a full list will be published in the next couple of weeks.
A total of 46 players were retained by the 10 teams but none of them English, with England white-ball captain Jos Buttler released after seven seasons with Rajasthan Royals.
The England and Wales Cricket Board has not disclosed who, among its centrally-contracted players, have put themselves forward for the auction.