England chief selector Luke Wright stated that England’s wicketkeeper-batter Jonny Bairstow’s international white-ball career is not over despite his omission from recently announced squads for home series against Australia. Bairstow along with experienced campaigners like Moeen Ali and Chris Jordan were dropped from series comprising of three T20Is and five ODIs. Wright shared about the future of Bairstow reflecting on how his injury proved to be a talking point regarding his selection. The 34-year-old batter has suffered a slump in form across formats since his freak injury.
“One of Jonny’s great strengths is how much he wants to play. We just want him back to being one of the best players in the world. He had that horrific injury, and that’s been the message. Can we get you back to where you were pre-injury? He understands that. He doesn’t like it. One thing Jonny will do is fight back, and I hope he does and gets himself back in the team,”
Five uncapped players were named in the squad for the Australia series. Josh Hull, Jacob Bethell and John Turner have been selected in both formats whereas Dan Mousley and Jordan Cox made the cut for T20I series. Wright revealed the thought process of selectors regarding the transition by picking youngsters.
“Now feels like the right time to have a few more picks in there and look probably for the future. It’s certainly not an experiment. These guys are top cricketers. The one thing we don’t lack in England is the amount of talent that’s around. With the schedule, it gives us the opportunity to look at some wider squads, and gives us the opportunity to look at some of those younger lads who sometimes wouldn’t get that opportunity.” Wright added.
Root not dropped
Wright also clarified that contrary to media reports Joe Root has been rested and not dropped from the ODIs.
"He's given a lot to English cricket. There's no reason why he can't then come into the major tournaments… we know how important Joe is to the England team. He also offers us [something] with the ball as well, and there's not many that do that… With someone like Joe, we've got to look after him, we don't want him to burn out,”
Stokes, Root’s future
While Root is rested, Ben Stokes is recovering from hamstring injury he suffered. Wright is hopeful that the duo will remain in the mix of selection for Champions Trophy 2025 despite their absence from ODI squad since World Cup 2023. Additionally, they will miss the November tour of the West Indies due to England's Test commitments in Pakistan and New Zealand.
The Champions Trophy is scheduled to commence in mid-February in Pakistan. England will prepare by playing three ODIs in India at the start of February, which will be the only chance for Root, and Stokes to participate in ODIs before the major tournament.
