Don’t write off Bairstow yet

Two days is not usually enough to make a judgment about whether a bloke is going to succeed in Test cricket, but from what I have seen of Ben Foakes, he must be given a run as England’s wicketkeeper.

I said during the summer that it would not have been fair or right to take the gloves from Jonny Bairstow because he was a better keeper than Jos Buttler.

Now, after the first two days in Galle, I feel that it would not be fair or right to take the gloves from Foakes for the second Test in Kandy.

He really has looked impressive. To come in for your first Test innings in such alien conditions, and with your team in such trouble and to show such calm, was remarkable. And he looks very tidy behind the stumps — as those who have watched him regularly at Surrey said he would.

Sometimes an injury opens the door for someone else and Foakes has come bursting through. It is especially the case for the wicketkeeper because there is only one of you. It is harsh on Bairstow but this is international sport.

So while I would not have changed the wicketkeeping role during the summer, I would now. That does not mean there is no room for Bairstow. Far from it.

we have seen how he reinvented himself with great success as a one-day opener and I would make the point to him that there is still a vacancy in England’s Test top order.

I accept the argument that when a guy who is used to keeping wicket becomes a specialist batsman he loses a bit of his comfort blanket — fail with the bat and you can always get into the game with the gloves. Remove those gloves and the pressure increases on you to get runs.

But at 29 Bairstow is no novice. He has played 59 Tests and has five centuries. His 50- over form shows he is well capable of flourishing without the gloves because Buttler keeps wicket for the one-day side.

That is the carrot I would dangle in front of Bairstow, especially because I do not see Moeen Ali as a long-term No 3, certainly not in English conditions anyway.

whether Joe Root moves back to No 3, leaving a vacancy at No 4, or Bairstow has a go at No 3 himself, the fact is that, come the summer, there will probably be a place up for grabs. And Bairstow has the class to fill it. The one thing he needs to sort out — and it’s something he has been a bit stubborn about — is his technique against the red ball.

Because he has had success in white-ball cricket staying leg side of the ball, the habit has crept into his long-form batting and we saw against India in the summer how that resulted in him getting bowled more or nicking off.

He must also realise that England are not going play six bowlers all the time, as they have here, and that the three spinners they are playing at Galle will become one spinner back home.

My point is that this England side currently looks a batsman light. If he has the desire and the will, Bairstow can fill the hole.

of course, Foakes may return to England and find bowlers with the Dukes ball manage to exploit some technical weakness that has not been exposed in county cricket. what we have seen so far is the smallest of sample sizes.

But my gut feel is that Foakes has done enough to stay in the side. It is now up to Bairstow to prove that he can play a role too.