England national selector Ed Smith said "no doors are closed" on the wicketkeeper-batsman Jonny Bairstow after he was left out of England’s 13-man squad for the three-match Test series opener against West Indies starting on Wednesday (July 8) at The Ages Bowl.
The 30-year-old has played just one Test since Ashes 2019 with Jos Buttler now confirmed as the preferred Test gloveman for England, although, Smith insisted that Bairstow remains in his red-ball plans despite he wasn’t even included in the list of nine reserve players for the Test series opener in Southampton.
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He further revealed that Bairstow – who averaged just 18.55 in 10 Tests in 2019, and Moeen Ali will link up with a “white-ball bubble” that will be announced soon after being omitted from England squad.
Smith said of Bairstow: “No one doubts he is a very good cricketer across all formats and no doors are closed for him. We are fully aware of what he can do in Test cricket.”
He further explained, “But it is also the case that we are where we were before coronavirus caused a suspension - Jos Buttler is the man in possession and Ben Foakes was the deputy on that tour to Sri Lanka. I wouldn't make any presumptions in terms of anything being blocked for Jonny. There is a wide understanding of how good he is at his best.
He is a very talented player and has played some very fine innings for England across the formats. That is not going to be forgotten. Jonny has had an exceptional spell of form in white-ball cricket.”
Smith signed off by saying, “There is cricket to be played there, so it seemed the best arrangement for Jonny to move across to the white-ball bubble. With Moeen and Jonny, part of the calculation is that they have been very good performers in white-ball cricket.”
Noteworthy, the three-Test series will mark the resumption of cricket after the Coronavirus-forced hiatus with the first Test gets underway at Ageas Bowl followed by the next two at Old Trafford.
England squad for the first Test against West Indies:
Ben Stokes (Durham, captain), James Anderson (Lancashire), Jofra Archer (Sussex), Dominic Bess (Somerset), Stuart Broad (Nottinghamshire), Rory Burns (Surrey), Jos Buttler (Lancashire), Zak Crawley (Kent), Joe Denly (Kent), Ollie Pope (Surrey), Dom Sibley (Warwickshire), Chris Woakes (Warwickshire), Mark Wood (Durham)
England reserves for first West Indies Test:
James Bracey (Gloucestershire), Sam Curran (Surrey), Ben Foakes (Surrey), Dan Lawrence (Essex), Jack Leach (Somerset), Saqib Mahmood (Lancashire), Craig Overton (Somerset), Ollie Robinson (Sussex), Olly Stone (Warwickshire)
(With Skysports Inputs)
