Moxon questions England’s use of Bairstow’s talent

YORKSHIRE chief Martyn Moxon fears that England are wasting Jonny Bairstow’s talent.

The county’s director of cricket issued his warning as England prepared to start their Champions Trophy campaign against Bangladesh today.

Barring injury or illness, Bairstow will not play in the match at the Oval despite scoring half-centuries on his last two one-day international outings, most recently on Monday when he top-scored with 51 after England slipped to 20-6 against South Africa.

England captain Eoin Morgan confirmed yesterday that Bairstow will miss out, and Moxon is sufficiently concerned at the player’s ongoing lack of opportunity in one-day cricket to suggest that England are squandering his special gifts.

“Are we wasting Jonny Bairstow? That’s the crucial question,” said Moxon.

“For me, Jonny has to play oneday cricket regularly to really develop and become something that I would suggest could be really special.

“He can bat anywhere; he can bat at the top of the order, but he’s also so destructive later on in the innings.

“With him, you’ve got an allround package, but his talent might be wasted.

“Somebody’s got to decide, at some point, ‘You know what, we’re going to have to invest in him because he could be so special’.

“That’s absolutely no detriment to anybody else.

“The England team have got some outstanding batsmen, but could Jonny be better? That’s my point.”

Moxon knows how he would slot Bairstow into England’s oneday side but said he preferred to keep his counsel.

The player has opened for Yorkshire this summer in the Royal London Cup, with incumbent England opener Jason Roy presently struggling.

However, Morgan yesterday reiterated his backing for Roy and said that “the decision will remain the same throughout the tournament”, arguing that England’s recent success has been founded on consistency of selection.

“I have a view on how Jonny would get into the England team, but I think it would be wrong of me to say that publicly,” said Moxon. “That’s not my job. “All I’m saying is that, at some point, England have to decide whether, in the long term, Jonny is going to be better than some very good players they’ve currently got in the side. That’s the issue.”

Moxon said he fully appreciates the dilemma faced by the selectors, with England blessed with so many top players.

Bairstow would perhaps not so much walk into other sides around the world as stroll into them with a cigar in one hand and a martini in the other, while he has undoubtedly proved himself one of the world’s top Test players after a similarly frustrating fight for recognition.

“It’s a dilemma, I accept that,” said Moxon.

“It’s also a measure of how strong the England team is that Jonny can’t get into it on a regular basis.

“I’m just concerned that we’re wasting time with him a bit because, potentially, he could be absolutely outstanding.

“If England leave it too long, they might miss a trick.”

Should Bairstow not feature in the Champions Trophy, Moxon is also concerned at the knock-on effect it might have on him leading into the forthcoming Test matches.

England begin a four-match Test series against South Africa at Lord’s on July 6.

“Potentially, Jonny might not play very much before then, and it would be hard for him then to find his fluency for the Tests,” said Moxon.

“That’s hard for any player, because you need to be playing regularly to keep in the swing of things.

“But, in one-day cricket, Jonny needs to be playing to get better but he hasn’t been getting the games.

“He’s shown many times what he’s capable of; that 170-odd for us recently (against Durham in the Royal London Cup) was an unbelievable innings.”

Moxon believes that England have a great chance of winning the Champions Trophy.

Morgan’s men are widely fancied, particularly on home soil, and Moxon feels they should challenge strongly.

“I think they’re a very good side,” he said.

“They’ve shown good form over the last two years and developed a really strong all-round team in 50-over cricket.

“They’ve got good batsmen, they’ve got pace, they’ve got spin, so they’ve got all bases covered.

“I would expect them to be challenging hard to win it.”

Morgan confirmed that allrounder Ben Stokes will play at the Oval despite a knee problem sustained during last week’s oneday international against South Africa at Headingley.

Stokes bowled in practice yesterday but his workload in today’s game will be determined by a prematch fitness test.

Morgan also confirmed that all-rounder Chris Woakes is fit after missing the last two games of the South Africa series with a thigh problem.

England are many bookmakers’ favourites to win the trophy but Morgan made clear: “We’ll need to bring our ‘A’ game.”