ECB’s chief selector Luke Wright wants veteran batsman Jonny Bairstow to “fight for his place” in the England team after being dropped from the white-ball squad against Australia. Bairstow, often regarded as one of the best white-ball players of this generation, has seen a decline in his fortunes since suffering a leg and ankle injury after slipping during a round of golf in September 2022.
After his return, Bairstow’s performance in the 2023 ODI World Cup was underwhelming, scoring only 215 runs in nine innings, as England’s title defense ended with just three wins out of nine league matches. In this year’s T20 World Cup, England had another disappointing tournament, where Bairstow managed only 110 runs in six innings, with his highest score being 48*. The 34-year-old also lost his place in England’s red-ball team following a poor winter tour of India, during which he coincidentally played his 100th Test.”
“But Wright believes that the recent exclusion from the team doesn’t mark the end of the journey for one of the stars of England’s remarkable white-ball run from 2015 to 2022. On Tuesday (August 27), Wright said, ‘Jonny’s greatest strength is how much he wants to play.’ ‘He is extremely disappointed. We want him to become one of the best players in the world. He suffered that terrible injury, and that’s the message. Can we get you back to where you were before the injury?’ ‘He understands it. He doesn’t like it. One thing Jonny will do is make a comeback, and I hope he does and gets back into the team.’
Along with Jonny Bairstow, Chris Jordan and Moeen Ali have also been left out, while Wright and his team have opted to give three uncapped players—Jacob Bethell, Josh Hull, and John Turner—a chance in the ODI matches against Australia. Wright said, ‘I definitely wouldn’t say that they won’t play again.’ ‘Chris Jordan was left out last winter and yet went on to play in the World Cup. They are all good cricketers. But right now, we just want to give some other players an opportunity.’
“We didn’t need to take [risky selections] with the white-ball team. They are one of the best teams out there. We’ve been very fortunate to have that team for such a long time. Now it feels like the right moment to make some more selections, and perhaps also look towards the future. This is an exciting time for everyone to see how this develops moving forward.”
Meanwhile, notable absentees from the ODI team include senior players Joe Root and Ben Stokes. Wright mentioned that Root has been rested, while Stokes is still recovering from a hamstring injury. However, both star players will be in contention for selection for the Champions Trophy next February. It’s highly likely that they will only get the opportunity to play three ODIs against India before that tournament, so they can get back into the rhythm of the 50-over format.
This presents a challenging scenario, as Root faced a similar lack of 50-over gameplay before last year’s World Cup, and his performance in India was quite disappointing, where he scored 276 runs in nine innings at an average of 30.66.”
Wright said, “They have given so much to English cricket. There’s no reason why they can’t come back for major tournaments… We know how important they are to the England team. They also provide us [something] with the ball, and very few players can do that. With players like Joe, we have to take care of them; we don’t want them to burn out.”
Wright added, “We want to be as strong as possible for the Champions Trophy. There’s no Test cricket at that time, so it gives us the chance to play with our strongest team. The schedule up until Christmas is crazy, so the players will have opportunities to stake their claims. But when the Champions Trophy comes around, we’ll be able to pick our strongest team.”