IN YOUR HANDS, JONNY
Bairstow has chance to keep gloves in Tests for England
JONNY BAIRSTOW has until the end of the Pakistan Test series to make his case for remaining England’s first-choice Test wicketkeeper, since Jos Buttler’s broken thumb is expected to keep him sidelined for another three weeks.
Buttler, replaced behind the stumps by Bairstow for the third Test against Pakistan in Sharjah last November after a slump in form with bat and gloves, had been pushing hard to restart his 14-Test career after a superb start to the season with Lancashire.
But a broken thumb sustained playing for Lancashire against Worcestershire in the NatWest T20 Blast on July 8, less than a week before the first Test of the current Investec Series, ended Buttler’s hopes of a return at Lord’s, where Bairstow was expected to have handed him the gloves after an error-strewn series behind the stumps against Sri Lanka.
England’ s management are understood to hold significant reservations about B air stow’ s wicket keeping, although he has cemented his place in the team as a batsman following a magnificent run that has seen him score three hundreds in his last seven Tests with his average rising above 40.
With Buttler’s wicketkeeping held in higher regard, despite Bairstow’s tireless attempts to improve this summer, the 25-year-old Lancashire star is expected to return as England’s first-choice keeper for the five-match One-Day International series against Pakistan, starting at the Ageas Bowl on August 24.
But, with less than three weeks until England play the fourth Test against Pakistan at The Oval, and England’s selectors preferring returning players to prove their fitness for their counties before reappearing in Tests, he now has next to no chance of featuring in the current series.
Buttler’s continued absence leaves England short of options as they ponder their best middle-order batting line-up, which is still a cause for concern despite yesterday’s mammoth first-innings total of 589 for eight declared, based around Joe Root’s magnificent Test best 254.
Huge questions remain over James Vince’s future at No 4, with the Hampshire batsman’s first seven Test innings yielding just 130 runs at less than 19.
His first-innings dismissal, caught behind off Rahat Ali for 18 after being dropped earlier in his innings playing a similar loose drive outside off stump, summed up a deeply frustrating start to his Test career for the elegant but unproven 25year-old.
With Gary Ballance’s place also far from secure at No 5, Buttler’s return would have allowed England to shift Bairstow up the order without losing power down the order, but the selectors will be seriously short of options for the third Test at Edgbaston should Vince fail again in the second innings.
One option would be a recall for Middlesex fast bowler Steven Finn, who was almost unplayable in Birmingham during last summer’s Ashes but has struggled for rhythm and confidence this summer. He was dropped along with debutant Josh Ball after England lost the first Test at Lord’s, despite hints that he was returning to form in an unlucky spell in the second innings.
Chris Woakes’s emergence as a genuine all-rounder during this series, suggesting that he could bat as high as seven in the order, may see Finn slot in at 10 with the rest of England’s batsmen shifting up one position.
Leg-spinner Adil Rashid, also a more than capable lower-order batsman, could also be handed a debut without seriously weakening the lower-order batting, although outand-out batting candidates to replace Vince in county cricket remain thin on the ground. Lancashire’s Scott Borthwick, who began his career as a leg-spinner, was discussed by the selectors before the Pakistan series only for his form to fall away alarmingly.
Essex’s Tom Westley and Kent’s Daniel Bell-Drummond are both highly regarded, although Somerset’s uncapped 31-year-old James Hildreth appears inexplicably persona non grata despite possessing a magnificent first-class record of 14,326 runs at an average of 44.62.