England Cricket Board (ECB) announced England's Test squad for one-off Test against Ireland at Lord's next month ahead of Ashes 2023. Hard-hitting Jonny Bairstow has returned to the squad as speciallist wicketkeeper-batter after recovering from freak injury that ruled him out of T20 World Cup 2022 and subsequent series.
As a result, speciallist wicketkeeper Ben Foakes has been dropped. Foakes is considered as one of the finest glovemen in world cricket. Also, he has averaged 38.9 under Ben Stokes' captaincy.
England's managing director of men's cricket Rob Key revealed that it was not an easy decision to make but Bairstow is a better pick.
“It was a seriously tough decision to leave Ben Foakes out of the squad,” Key said.
“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,” he added.
Last year, Bairstow broke his leg while playing golf. He was in exemplary form in both white-ball and red-ball cricket with six centuries in the calendar year.
He pulled out of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 to be fully fit for the upcoming Ashes 2023. He was retained by Shikhar Dhawan-led Punjab Kings (PBKS).
Before getting picked by for the one-off Ireland Test, he scored a quickfire 97 for Yorkshire 2nd XI last month. However, he could not score big on his County Cricket return. In County Championship Divison Two, he scored 83 runs from four innings for Yorkshire including a duck.
While Bairstow has 5,482 Test runs to his name, his average is a little more than Foakes. But last year, he adopted the 'Bazball' approach well and scored 1,061 runs from 19 innings at an average of 66.31 including six centuries and one fifty.
Ireland will first play a three-day practice game against Essex starting May 26. The only Test will start on June 1.
England's 15-member Test squad: Ben Stokes (c), James Anderson, Jonny 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
MORE ON SPORTS TAK:
MI set to offer multi-pound all-year contract to Jofra Archer, will decide when he plays for England: Report
England's T20 specialist replaces injured Jofra Archer in Mumbai Indians' squad for remainder of IPL 2023
