Bairstow urged to ‘hammer home’ No3 berth by Root
Batsman earns recall as injury rules out Curran England captain hopeful of completing 3-0 win
Come in, No3, your time is up. For the fifth time in five Tests, England will change their No 3 batsman, jettisoning Ben Stokes after one innings and installing Jonny Bairstow for the third and last Test against Sri Lanka, which starts tomorrow.
Bairstow will replace Sam Curran, who has a side strain, while Stuart Broad comes in for James Anderson on a rest-and-rotation basis. “We’ve still got two seam options, plenty of spin there and, if anything, strengthening that batting should hold us in good stead going into this last game,” captain Joe Root explained. “I feel it’s a very strong team that gives us a very good chance of winning 3-0.”
Root went into the fourth Test against India as England’s No 3 before demoting himself to four, which he has decided is his longterm position because it gives him time to clear his mind of captaincy issues. “It means I won’t be thinking about things I shouldn’t be when I walk out to bat.”
Moeen Ali replaced Root and held the position for 2½ Tests, before Stokes stepped up for the second Test in Kandy, but a nightwatchman was needed in England’s second innings, so Keaton Jennings went to three and Stokes back to five, where he will remain.
Significantly, the one batsman Root did not mention when announcing his team was Joe Denly. England’s selectors had imagined he would be the No3 for this series, but he did not even get a name-check. England have got away without having a settled choice in this key position, but stronger sides than Sri Lanka would have punished them for poor selection.
Had James Vince been chosen instead of Denly, England might have developed someone who could move up to open in the West Indies, or the Ashes, if Jennings and his footwork fail to make the grade. Had Liam Livingstone been chosen, England would have had a No 3 who has already excelled in Sri Lanka.
But Bairstow it is, for this week at any rate – and perhaps the longer term. “It’s definitely a strong option,” Root said. “He’s more than capable of doing it and bats at the top of the order in one-day cricket. One thing we all know about Jonny is whenever he’s got a point to prove or is up against it, he generally comes out and does something pretty special. Hopefully, we see that this week – that determination to hammer that spot home for himself.”
Root cited Jonathan Trott as his ideal No3 of recent years. For all his scintillating strokeplay, though, there is something Bairstow does not do, which a successful No3 must in English conditions: leave the ball.
Bairstow began a purple patch when given the gloves (in preference to Jos Buttler) in November 2015 until, at the start of last season, Ed Smith, the new national selector, asked him to bat at five, unprecedentedly high for an England keeper. In those 33 Tests, Bairstow scored five centuries, averaged 46 and launched many a successful counter-attack. Since then, he has averaged 23, scored no century, and lost the gloves to Ben Foakes.
Of Smith, Root did add: “He’s managed the players who haven’t played very well and made sure they’re clear on why they’ve been left out or why they’re not on tour, and that is a very important thing to deliver well.”
Anderson, meanwhile, has lost the new ball to Broad, but this seems temporary. “The thinking is that with the series sewn up, it’s an opportunity to rotate,” Anderson said. “Going to the West Indies as well [in January], I think the feeling is they want Broady to get some Test cricket under his belt. So, it’s going to be a week off. I feel like a bit of a spare part. The wickets that we’ve had have obviously been very suitable for the spin bowlers, so it’s frustrating in a way for me.”
The absence of reverse-swing has been especially vexing, because that was the weapon Anderson had used to succeed in Asia before. “The squares are pretty lush, they get a lot of rain overnight, the outfields – this one is quite boggy in parts,” Anderson added. The pitch, though dry, appears to be the best for batting in this series.
Root was being sarcastic when he said Broad was “thrilled” about a recall at the SSC. Broad knows how plumb it is, having made his Test debut here in 2007 and bowled 35 overs in the overwhelming heat – England are back on the coast after a slight mitigation of the temperature in Kandy – for his first wicket.
England’s players will applaud the hat-trick even more than usual if Root wins the toss again, and for the eighth time in a row; then they have to demonstrate their versatility by scoring not a quick 300 but a slow 500.