Buttler to step in for Bairstow

LANCASHIRE’S Jos Buttler is being primed to keep wicket in England’s first Test against Sri Lanka, with Jonny Bairstow’s fitness being monitored day by day.

Bairstow suffered ligament damage in his right ankle while playing football during the one-day series and looks increasingly likely to miss the Galle Test, which starts on November 6.

Buttler has been doing the job throughout the limited-overs leg of the tour and will continue behind the stumps when England begin the first of two two-day warm-ups in Colombo today.

“It’s day by day with Jonny at the minute,” England captain Joe Root said. “He’s actually made good strides in the last week or so and he’s recovered a little bit quicker than we anticipated.

Asked if the odds were against Bairstow, Root added: “We’ll have to wait and see, I think so but we’re very fortunate to have a lot of resources in that department.

“There’s still a long way to go, we’re a long way out from the first Test and it’s a big three-match series so we’ve got to weigh that up before the first game.” Ben Foakes has added to that strength in depth, having arrived on the island on Sunday as specialist cover. The Surrey man is regarded as the best pure wicketkeeper in county cricket and could come into consideration for a Test debut if England feel the spinning surface in Galle demands his expertise.

“Jonny would be a big loss but we have great players to come in and rebalance the team,” said Root.

“(Buttler keeping) is probably the likely scenario but the reason we called Ben up is he is a high quality keeper and gives us another way to balance the side.”