Jonny Bairstow Archives

Two key players left out of England’s white-ball squad for Australia series

LONDON: Wicketkeeper batter Jonny Bairstow and experienced all-rounder Moeen Ali have been left out of England’s white-ball squad for the upcoming home series against Australia.

Both Jonny Bairstow and Moeen Ali were under tight scrutiny due to their below-par performances in the recent ICC tournaments.

As a result, England’s T20I squad features five uncapped players: Essex batter Jordan Cox, Warwickshire pair Jacob Bethell and Dan Mousley, Leicestershire seamer Josh Hull, and Hampshire fast bowler John Turner.

In the ODI squad, players from the current Test squad – Gus Atkinson, Harry Brook, Matthew Potts, Jamie Smith – have been included as England start their preparation ahead of the ICC Champions Trophy, which gets underway early next year.

Josh Hull, who was added to the Test squad yesterday, is included alongside uncapped players Bethell and Turner.

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England will host Australia for a three-match T20I series, scheduled to run from September 11 to 15. The opening match of the series will be played at Utilita Bowl in Hampshire while the remaining two T20Is will be played at Sophia Gardens and Old Trafford respectively.

The two sides will then lock horns in a five-match ODI series, scheduled from September 19 to 29.

The third and fifth ODI will take place at Seat Unique Riverside in Bristol while the first, second and fourth fixtures are scheduled at Trent Bridge, Headingley and Lord’s.

England T20 squad to play Australia: Jos Buttler (Lancashire, captain), Jofra Archer (Sussex), Jacob Bethell (Warwickshire), Brydon Carse (Durham), Jordan Cox (Essex), Sam Curran (Surrey), Josh Hull (Leicestershire), Will Jacks (Surrey), Liam Livingstone (Lancashire), Saqib Mahmood (Lancashire), Dan Mousley (Warwickshire), Adil Rashid (Yorkshire), Phil Salt (Lancashire), Reece Topley (Surrey), John Turner (Hampshire)

England ODI squad: Jos Buttler, Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson (Surrey), Jacob Bethell, Harry Brook (Yorkshire), Brydon Carse, Ben Duckett (Nottinghamshire), Josh Hull, Will Jacks, Matthew Potts (Durham), Adil Rashid, Phil Salt, Jamie Smith (Surrey), Reece Topley, John Turner.

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Jonny Bairstow under pressure in 100th Test after lean India series

Struggling England batsman Jonny Bairstow looks to be fighting to save his Test career when the fifth and final match against India begins in Dharamsala on Thursday.

Bairstow will win his 100th cap as England, who have already lost the series 3-1, try to salvage some pride in the high-altitude and chilly Himalayan hill town.

India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin is also in line to play his 100th Test, having already passed the milestone of 500 Test wickets during the series.

Jonny Bairstow said Tuesday that his 100th Test would mean “a hell of a lot”, he told reporters.

“Every young kid that sets out on a journey playing professional cricket wants to try and play 100 Test matches,” he said.

Bairstow, recalling his 2012 Test debut at Lord’s, said that if someone had told him then he would play his century match he would have been “pinching” himself like it was a dream.

The former wicketkeeper is in the side as a specialist batsman, after Ben Foakes took over behind the stumps, but he has scored just 170 runs at an average of 21.25 during the series.

The 34-year-old has struggled since returning to the side last year, after breaking his leg in a freak golfing accident.

He has played 10 Tests since recovering, but has not scored a century and has a highest of only 38 in eight innings in India.

Former England captain Michael Vaughan called Bairstow’s landmark “a great triumph of resilience”, in his column for the UK’s Telegraph newspaper.

“I believe that if you get to 99 caps you deserve the moment of your 100th,” Vaughan wrote, while noting that “you can’t escape that he could miss out on his 101st”.

“He hasn’t played well enough across the 10 Tests he’s been back in the side, especially in India,” Vaughan added.

Bairstow is renowned as an attacking batsman and at number five in the order is crucial to England’s aggressive “Bazball” style of cricket.

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Jonny Bairstow showed glimpses of a return to form in the fourth Test but could not convert good starts, where he reached 38 and 30 in each innings respectively, into substantial scores.

Former captain Joe Root also struggled in the first three Tests, but struck form as he knuckled down to score a sublime century in the fourth on a testing wicket.

Veteran seamer James Anderson, 41, is just two wickets away from 700 wickets and becoming the third bowler, after Sri Lanka’s Muttiah Muralitharan (800) and late Australian spin legend Shane Warne (708), to achieve the milestone.

The weather in Dharamsala could play a huge part in the match. The picturesque ground is surrounded by snow-capped peaks at an altitude of 1,317 metres (4,320 feet).

There is a risk of sleet and forecasts say temperatures could plunge as low as 1C (33.8 Fahrenheit) on Thursday.

India pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah will return after being rested but the focus will be on Ashwin, 37, who made his debut in 2011.

Ashwin has 507 Test victims, second only to Anil Kumble’s 619 wickets on India’s all-time list.

“It’s a pretty big occasion — more than the destination, the journey has been very special,” Ashwin told reporters.

“But it doesn’t change anything… 3-1 scoreline is on the board, and despite the scoreline, you want to win every Test match that you play.”

India won in Ranchi by five wickets and have not lost a home series since 2012, when Alastair Cook’s England won 2-1.

The hosts have unearthed new talent in the series, such as Dhruv Jurel and Sarfaraz Khan, in the absence of Virat Kohli and the injured KL Rahul.

Batsman Devdutt Padikkal is in line for his debut in place of Rajat Patidar, who has managed just 63 runs in six innings in his maiden series.

Left-handed opener Yashasvi Jaiswal leads the series batting with 655 runs, including two double centuries.

England spinner Tom Hartley is the leading wicket-taker with 20. Bumrah, Ravindra Jadeja and Ashwin all have 17 wickets.

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Jonny Bairstow bags unwanted Test record against India

RAJKOT: England batter Jonny Bairstow on Saturday set an unwanted Test record against India in the ongoing third Test of the five-match series.

The right-handed batter now has eight ducks, the most by any batter against India in Tests after getting dismissed by spinner Kuldeep Yadav on day three of the ongoing third Test at Rajkot’s Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium.

Notably, Jonny Bairstow has been struggling against India lately. He managed scored only 98 runs in the past five innings at an average of 19.60 without scoring a half-century.

On the other hand, opener Yashasvi Jaiswal smashed a rapid hundred before retiring hurt as India stretched their overall lead to 322 with eight wickets in hand to take control of the third test against England on Saturday.

The hosts are left with 10 players for the rest of the match after Ravichandran Ashwin withdrew on Friday night due to a family emergency.

Mohammed Siraj (4-84) and Kuldeep Yadav (2-77) made up for the off-spinner’s absence as they combined to skittle out England – who had started the day on a solid 207-2 – for 319 in reply to India’s first innings total of 445.

India finished day three on 196-2 but Yashasvi Jaiswal, struggling with a back spasm, retired hurt after his scintillating 104, which included five sixes and nine fours.

Shubman Gill was batting on 65 with nightwatchman Kuldeep Yadav on three at the other end.
There was no inkling of England’s batting meltdown when they resumed play with eight wickets left at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium.

For many, it was Joe Root’s debatable reverse scoop when on 18 – attempted against India’s premier bowler Jasprit Bumrah – that shifted the momentum in the hosts’ favour.

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Joe Root has not been in great form in this series, and his lean run continued as Yashasvi Jaiswal took the tricky catch at second slip. It was the ninth time in 21 test innings that the former England skipper has fallen to his Indian nemesis.

Kuldeep Yadav bowled a terrific spell that had not just the English batters but even India wicketkeeper Dhruv Jurel guessing which way the ball would turn.

The left-arm wrist spinner trapped Jonny Bairstow lbw for a duck and was pleasantly surprised when his ordinary delivery ended Ben Duckett’s blistering 153, which contained two sixes and 23 fours.

Spilled by Rohit Sharma in the slip before he completed 150, Ben Duckett slapped a half-tracker from Kuldeep to Gill at cover. England were pushed further on to the back foot after the lunch break when they lost two wickets in two balls.

Skipper Ben Stokes (41) slog-swept Ravindra Jadeja to Bumrah, while Ben Foakes (13) was snapped up at mid-on by Rohit.

Mohammed Siraj (4-84) went on to york Rehan Ahmed and James Anderson as England gave up their last five wickets for a paltry 20 runs.

Joe Root dismissed Rohit Sharma for 19 when India came out to bat in their second innings but Jaiswal tore into the England attack to swell India’s lead.

The left-hander brought up his hundred with a four off Mark Wood and then dropped his bat, removed his gloves and stood in the middle blowing kisses and looking skywards in celebration.

Shubman Gill brought up his fifty soon after that with a six off Mark Wood as India threatened to bat England out of the contest.

READ: Yashasvi Jaiswal ton keeps India in dominant position against England

Bairstow returns as England announce squad for Ireland Test

LONDON: England Cricket Board on Tuesday announced a 15-member squad for the one-off Test against Ireland at Lord’s, marking the return of Jonny Bairstow after a prolonged injury layoff.

With the wicket-keeper batter back in the side, Ben Foakes has been dropped from the team.

Bairstow last played international cricket in September 2021, before a golf accident left him with a fractured leg and dislocated ankle. He missed all of England’s winter programme, including the T20I megaevent in Australia, where his team became the World champions for the second time.

He returned to action only recently in the County Championship for Yorkshire and now looks ready to take the gloves during the Ashes, which begins on June 16.

Another positive for England is the inclusion of James Anderson, who suffered a minor injury while bowling on the opening day of Lancashire’s County clash against Somerset.

The ECB said that they would evaluate his fitness before the Ireland Test and his inclusion bodes well for the hosts.

Fast bowlers Mark Wood and Chris Woakes have also been recalled, with the latter coming back in the Test squad for the first time since March 2022 and if selected, it will be his first Test on home soil in the last two years.

Meanwhile, Jofra Archer, who returned from the ongoing IPL to assess discomfort in his elbow, was not considered after being ruled out for the remaining summer with a recurrence of a stress fracture to his right elbow.

Ben Stokes will be leading the side with right-handed batter Ollie Pope as his deputy.

“We are looking forward to the summer ahead and getting into the swing of things, starting with a good test against Ireland,” said ECB Managing Director for England Men’s Cricket Rob Key.

“It was a seriously tough decision to leave Ben Foakes out of the squad. He has been excellent for England in the last year, but Jonny Bairstow is one of the best players in the world whose performances last summer epitomised what we are about.

“It has been a frustrating and upsetting period for Jofra Archer. He was making good progress until a recurrence of the elbow injury, which kept him out for an extended period previously. We wish him the best of luck with his recovery. I’m sure we will see Jofra back to his best and winning games for England, whatever the format. Hopefully, sooner rather than later.

“I would like to wish the players every success, especially those returning after some time away,” he concluded.

The four-day Test will be played from 1 to 4 June at the Lord’s Cricket Ground, London and will only be the second time when the two nations play a red-ball game. Interestingly, the first one, played in 2019 was also a four-day affair, which England won by 143 runs.

With the home Ashes against Australia in sight, England will be looking forward to getting some game time before facing their arch-rivals.

SQUAD: Ben Stokes (c), James Anderson, Jonathan Bairstow, Stuart Broad, Harry Brook, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Dan Lawrence, Jack Leach, Ollie Pope, Matthew Potts, Ollie Robinson, Joe Root, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood.

READ: Stokes fitness doubt in latest England Ashes scare

England’s Bairstow hopes to return for Ireland Test

Jonny Bairstow hopes to be fit for England’s opening Test of the summer against Ireland in June, according to Yorkshire head coach Ottis Gibson.

Bairstow’s superb form last year came to an abrupt end when a freak accident on the golf course in September left him with three separate fractures in his left fibula, as well as a dislocated ankle and ligament injuries.

The 33-year-old had an operation to insert a metal plate and recently withdrew from the Indian Premier League as he stepped up his rehabilitation.

Gibson said Bairstow expects to be sidelined for another two months, but has his sights set on featuring in a Test for the first time in nine months when England host Ireland at Lord’s on June 1.

That match will serve as a tune-up for the hotly-anticipated Ashes series against Australia.

With the Ashes in mind, Bairstow would ideally make his first-class comeback in Yorkshire’s County Championship matches against Glamorgan and Durham starting on May 4 and May 11.

“I’ve had a conversation with him and the medical team, who’ve done a great job, they think by the end of May he should be in position to play cricket,” Gibson said.

“He should be available to play games by the middle to end of May. He’s had a horrific injury but he’s tracking well. He’s running up and down and he can run in straight lines, but he’s not doing much lateral stuff yet.

“The medical team will let us know how far along he is but he is expecting, when I’ve spoken to him, to be in a position to play in England’s first Test. That’s what he is aiming for.”

Bairstow has indicated he would like to resume wicketkeeping duties when he returns for Yorkshire, giving him another route back into the England side.

His sensational run of Test form last year, when he smashed four brilliant centuries, came as a specialist batter, but fellow Yorkshireman Harry Brook has excelled at number five since stepping up in Bairstow’s absence over the winter.

“Part of the job in county cricket is to prepare players for England. If England put in a request then we’d be crazy not to accommodate them, especially in an Ashes year,” Gibson said.

“We will certainly try to accommodate that request, if and when it comes.”

Jonny Bairstow likely to skip IPL to focus on The Ashes: English Media

LONDON: Hard-hitting England batter Jonathan Bairstow is likely to withdraw from the Indian Premier League (IPL) in a bid to focus on the upcoming Ashes, English news outlet The Guardian reported.

Bairstow, who is on a road to recovery from a freak injury as he sustained multiple fractures, a dislocated ankle and ligament damage from a freak slip on the golf course in September, is likely to prioritize his national duty over the cash-rich IPL.

The injury forced the in-form batter to miss major events including the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022 and England’s Test tour of Pakistan and New Zealand.

Following the gruelling injury, Bairstow underwent successful surgery on his left leg and has made encouraging progress since then. The wicketkeeper batter returned to running outdoors last month and has now recently begun training in the nets.

With this year’s IPL around the corner, starting from March 31, Bairstow is unlikely to join his franchise Punjab Kings right from the commencement of the tournament and instead expected to plot his return to Yorkshire in County Cricket Championship.

“But the IPL, that gets underway on 31 March and runs until the end of May, is expected to come too soon. His franchise, Punjab Kings, would have to keep an overseas slot vacant until midway through the tournament and, as such, Bairstow is instead expected to plot his return to playing back at Yorkshire,” The Guardian reported.

It is pertinent to mention that England will host Australia for the Ashes from June 16 to July 31.

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‘I had a cry,’ Jonny Bairstow on England’s T20 WC triumph

LONDON: Right-handed aggressive batter Jonathan Bairstow revealed that he cried after England won the recently-concluded ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022.

During an interview on the BBC podcast Tailenders, the right-handed batter discussed his emotions over England winning the World Cup and missing out on the opportunity.

“No, I was absolutely fine. And then the closer, the closer you get to the lads winning, the emotion just starts to come in,” said Bairstow.

“Yeah, I had a cry, I’m not going to be shy to say that, absolutely. Well, yeah, because the emotion of everything, like being told that you’re going to open the batting in it, to then breaking my leg, to then watching the lads go out there and not winning it last year, but then the guys win it this year.

“So there’s that whole emotion of the things that I’m going through here, from my leg and everything like that, coupled with the pure elation that you’ve got for all the boys.”

It is pertinent to mention that England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in September announced Bairstow ruling out of the mega event after a freak accident while playing golf and sustained a lower limb injury.

Bairstow later revealed he had broken his leg in three places and also dislocated his ankle after slipping while walking off the side of the green. “I tried to regain my balance, my left ankle turned right, dislocated and my weight went through my left lower leg,” he told the Telegraph. “I heard it snap straight away.”

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Jonathan Bairstow ruled out of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022

LONDON: England’s aggressive batter Jonathan Bairstow has been ruled out of the third Test of the ongoing home series against South Africa and the ICC T20 World Cup 2022 due to a limb injury.

According to the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), the right-handed batter sustained a lower limb injury while playing golf in Leeds and therefore, has been ruled out of the rest of the summer season.

“England and Yorkshire batter Jonathan Bairstow has been ruled out of the rest of the summer and the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup after sustaining a lower limb injury in a freak accident whilst playing golf on Friday in Leeds,” the statement read.

“He will see a specialist next week to ascertain the full extent of the injury.”

Following this, the Nottinghamshire batter Ben Duckett has been added to England’s squad for their third Test against South Africa, scheduled to commence on September 8.

Whereas, a further announcement will be made regarding Bairstow’s replacement in England’s ICC Men’s T20 World Cup squad.

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Bairstow, Pant step into top 10 as Kohli slips in latest ICC Test rankings

DUBAI: England’s batter Jonny Bairstow and Indian wicket-keeper Rishabh pant have been rewarded for their astounding forms as both stepped into the top 10 in the latest ICC Test batting rankings.

Bairstow made a leap forward to secure the 10th spot, meanwhile, Pant jumped six places to finish 5th in the latest rankings released by the International Cricket Council (ICC).

The 32-year-old Bairstow has been in sublime form in red-ball cricket as he smashed four centuries in the last three Tests, including dual tons against India in the rescheduled Test at Edgbaston aiding his side to clinch a historic chase in the fourth innings, yesterday.

Pant, on the other hand, has impressed with two centuries and three half-centuries in his past six Test innings to rise to his highest-ever position in the Test batting rankings.

However, former Indian captain and star batter Virat Kohli has slipped three spots to 13th in the latest rankings, owing to his dismal form.

Pakistan all-format captain Babar Azam remains unchanged in the 4th position in the latest Test rankings.

Meanwhile, England’s Joe Root continues to lead the rankings, followed by Australia’s Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith in second and third spots, respectively.

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Root, Bairstow’s tons power England to level series 2-2 after historic chase

BIRMINGHAM: Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow blasted magnificent centuries on the final day of rescheduled Test to propel India’s defeat after England sealed a historic chase of 378 runs to level the series 2-2, here at Edgbaston.

With their incredible 269-run partnership in the rescheduled fifth Test, England’s steady duo of Root and Bairstow ended India’s hopes of winning the Test series in England after a 15-year dearth.

Resuming their run chase at 259/3, Bairstow and Root carried the momentum of their overnight partnership and displayed no signs of rusting.

Root and Bairstow, who were unbeaten on 76 and 72 respectively, soon amassed their centuries as they seemed unmoved by the Indian bowling attack.

The pair ticked the scoreboard at a rapid pace as they scored the required 119 runs in less than 20 overs to seal their historic run chase in Tests.

Root top-scored for the side in the second inning with his magnificent knock of 142 off 173 deliveries, laced with 19 boundaries and a six. Bairstow, on the other hand, bettered his last inning’s century with another as he remained unbeaten on 114 off 145 balls with the help of 15 boundaries and a six.

For his centuries in both innings of the match, Bairstow was adjudged as the Player of the Match. Whereas, Root was named the Player of the Series for his 737 runs and two wickets.

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