England “agonised” about dropping Ben Foakes for next month’s one-off Test against Ireland before concluding the wicketkeeper giving way for the returning Jonny Bairstow was the only logical option.
Despite being regarded as one of the world’s best glovemen and averaging a respectable 38.9 with the bat in nine Tests under Ben Stokes’ leadership, Foakes has been jettisoned in favour of Bairstow in a 15-strong squad for the Lord’s contest that serves as England’s only tune-up ahead of the Ashes series.
Bairstow’s six hundreds in 2022, before breaking his leg in three places in August, meant he was a shoo-in to reclaim his spot but how England would accommodate the Yorkshireman was left open to debate.
His county colleague Harry Brook registered four centuries over the winter, making the number five spot his own, after replacing Bairstow, while there was a suggestion of Stokes opening to free up a middle-order space.
But Rob Key insisted any funky rejig of the batting order was never on the cards and the irresistible form of Bairstow, who has kept twice for Yorkshire this season and in 49 of his 89 Tests, under Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum meant he was given the nod over Foakes.
“It is something we agonised over for quite some time,” said Key, the England and Wales Cricket Board director of men’s cricket.
“You’ve got two very good cricketers: Ben Foakes who has just done absolutely everything that has been asked of him and you’ve also got Jonny Bairstow who was one of the best batsmen in the world last year.
“It’s then how do you fit them both in? We couldn’t find a way to do that so we’ve ended up with Jonny keeping and batting at number seven.
“We didn’t think about square pegs in round holes. As hard as it is on Ben Foakes, you look at the potential line-up and you think it looks a very, very good side with Jonny in there.”
With a month to go until the start of the Ashes there remain concerns over Stokes’ longstanding left knee injury while Stephen Fleming, his head coach at Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League, said recently the all-rounder’s ability to bowl remains “a bit of a challenge”.
Ollie Pope’s unveiling as vice-captain on Tuesday provided a hint of intrigue ahead of the visit of Ireland from June 1-4, having stood in for Stokes in England’s warm-up matches over the winter.
However, Key does not expect Pope to fulfil captaincy duties at the home of cricket and is, for now, happy that Stokes will be able to perform to his usual standard ahead of a bumper summer.
“At the moment I have no concerns about that,” said Key of Stokes, who has not featured in the IPL since early April.
“I think Ben’s actually been probably getting more rest than he would have done had he been doing anything else.
“Even though he’s out at the IPL, every time I speak to him and communicate in whatever way, all he’s thinking about really is the Ashes.
“Sometimes you can never be 100 per cent sure what Stokesy does. His instincts are generally very good on those things but at this point in time, I don’t see him (missing the Ireland Test).”
As expected, James Anderson keeps his place in the squad despite suffering a mild strain to his right groin last week. England will continue to monitor Anderson and a decision about whether to field their record wicket-taker in the summer’s curtain-raiser will be made nearer to the time.
“I’ve had the odd WhatsApp with Jimmy – he’s not concerned which is a good thing really because we want to see Jimmy Anderson for as much as we can,” added Key.
England have been hit with further injuries to Jofra Archer and Olly Stone, leaving Mark Wood as their only express pace option but fellow fast bowler Chris Woakes, who has taken 94 wickets at 22.63 in home conditions and 27 at 11.33 at Lord’s, is brought back in for the first time since March last year.
Stuart Broad, Ollie Robinson and the recalled Matthew Potts provide the other specialist seam options, with Jack Leach as the frontline spinner. Dan Lawrence provides batting cover.
England men’s Test squad to face Ireland at Lord’s from June 1-4: B Stokes (captain), J Anderson, J Bairstow, S Broad, H Brook, Z Crawley, B Duckett, D Lawrence, J Leach, O Pope, M Potts, O Robinson, J Root, C Woakes, M Wood.
Pakistan thrash Zimbabwe behind Ayub ton to level ODI series
Saim Ayub made a 53-ball century and Abrar Ahmed took four wickets on debut as Pakistan trounced Zimbabwe by 10 wickets to level the teams' ODI series at 1-1 on Tuesday.
Having lost a rain-hit opener by DLS method on Sunday, Pakistan raced to victory in the second match in Bulawayo, thanks in part to a brilliant display of spin bowling.
New boy Abrar was the pick of the bunch among their attack, finishing with figures of 4-33, while Salman Agha took 3-26 as the hosts were skittled for 145 runs within 33 overs.
Dion Myers top-scored for Zimbabwe with just 33 before being trapped lbw by Salman, with five home batters not even reaching double figures as their innings unravelled.
Any hopes that Pakistan's Sunday struggles might reappear were swiftly eradicated when the tourists took up the bat, with Ayub (113) teaming up with fellow opener Abdullah Shafique (32) for an unbeaten stand of 145.
Ayub smashed Sikandar Raza's delivery for four to get Pakistan over the line in just over 18 overs, making Thursday's final ODI a series decider.
The teams will then face off in three T20Is, with the opening match of that series, which is also being staged entirely in Bulawayo, set for Sunday.
Data Debrief: Ayub the best of the rest
Ayub's century was the fastest ODI hundred ever made by a Pakistan player excluding the legendary Shahid Afridi.
The latter's record stands at 102 off 37 balls against Sri Lanka in 1996, while he also hit a 45-ball ton against India in 2005.
Greaves hits unbeaten ton as West Indies dominate Bangladesh
Justin Greaves hit an unbeaten century – his first red-ball ton – as West Indies ended day two of their first Test against Bangladesh with a commanding 410-run lead.
Greaves resumed alongside Joshua Da Silva with West Indies 250-5 after day one in Antigua, eventually slamming 115 runs off 206 balls faced as the hosts established a dominant position.
His steady knock ensured the Windies recovered nicely after slipping to 261-7 early on, while Kemar Roach hit a career-best 47 through four defiant hours at the crease.
Hasan Mahmud took three day-two wickets for Bangladesh, including that of Roach, as his short delivery angled in to clip the top of middle stump.
Windies skipper Kraigg Brathwaite declared to put Bangladesh at the crease late on, and there was no respite for the tourists against the hosts' four-man pace attack.
Zakir Hasan fell to Jayden Seales for 15, while Mahmudul Hasan Joy edged Alzarri Joseph for five shortly after being dropped, leaving Bangladesh 40-2 at stumps.
Data Debrief: Career-best for Greaves
Greaves' unbeaten 115 marked his first century in Test cricket, surpassing his previous best knock – a score of 33 versus Australia in January – by some distance.
His strike rate of 55.83 on Saturday, while steady, also bettered his effort of 55.00 during that match in Brisbane. Thanks to his efforts, Bangladesh have a real mountain to climb on day three.
Inglis hails 'hard to stop' Stoinis after ruthless knock
Josh Inglis lauded "hard to stop" Marcus Stoinis as Australia signed off their T20I series against Pakistan in style, claiming a whitewash.
The hosts raced to a seven-wicket victory with almost nine overs remaining in Monday's third match.
After Australia's bowlers had limited Pakistan to just 117 runs, Stoinis ensured they signed off their final white-ball assignment in style, with his unbeaten 61 doing the damage.
Only twice has he bettered that knock in T20Is – versus New Zealand in 2021 (78) and against Oman at the World Cup earlier this year (67*).
"It's been a great week. We've had a lot of fun as a group," Inglis said. "It's been really nice.
"When Stoinis is going like that, he is really hard to stop. One of those sixes was probably the biggest I've ever seen!"
Stoinis, who was named player of the match, added: "Nice to score some runs on a beautiful wicket but credit to the bowlers who kept the total down.
"Yeah, I actually told [Haris] Rauf that this is the first time any of us got the better of him! No, he's a brilliant bowler, bowled well this series."
During their white-ball tour, Pakistan won the ODI series, their first time doing so in Australia in 22 years, but got whitewashed in the T20Is.
Despite the heavy loss, captain Agha Salman chose to focus on the positive effect the experience will have on their young players.
"I think in the middle overs, we didn't capitalise on the start," he said. "But lots of positives.
"The way Usman [Khan] batted, the way Jahandad [Khan] bowled. These youngsters will come good.
"It's obviously a big achievement winning the ODI series, but we could have done much better in the T20Is."
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
