Jonny Bairstow is relieved his left leg passed its first major stress-test in the Ashes as he prepares for a different challenge over the next few weeks.
A freak accident a year ago left Bairstow with three fractures, ligament damage and a dislocated ankle, with his surgeon comparing the subsequent operation to “putting Humpty Dumpty back together again”.
In order to facilitate his England return at the start of the summer, Bairstow ousted Ben Foakes as wicketkeeper and initially struggled to adjust to the full-time role after four years of not doing so.
He missed eight chances in the first three Tests and his movement appeared compromised on occasion, but a blinding catch at Emirates Old Trafford and a typically belligerent 99 not out was followed by Bairstow reminding everyone he was still feeling his way back in a spiky press conference last month.
And Bairstow ended his Test summer with a flourish following a dashing 78 and another excellent grab to accelerate England’s push for victory on the final day at the Kia Oval in a 2-2 drawn series.
“I feel good,” he said. “The ankle has held up really well, I’m delighted with how it’s held up. I’m delighted with how free I’m feeling at the moment.
“There’s naturally an unknown when you’re coming back from it. There’s times when you can turn or you can keep on it or twist on it or whatever.
“I don’t know what actually makes it flare up or if it does but it hasn’t done, so that’s a fantastic thing for me and gives me a huge amount of confidence going onwards.”
Bairstow is set to take some time off but will play in The Hundred before England face New Zealand and Ireland in September ahead of the start of their 50-over World Cup title defence in India in October.
With Jos Buttler donning the gloves in the white-ball sides, Bairstow is used as a boundary rider but the Yorkshireman hinted at a change as the role necessitates more running than being inside the ring.
“It’s one of those where in some ways you might have to be a bit clever with it,” Bairstow said.
“Do you actually need to do that when someone else can do that? Can I utilise my different skillset in the ring? I can go out there, absolutely, but it’s risk and reward and everything that goes with it.”
With such a packed schedule on the horizon, Bairstow has given no thought to England’s next Test assignment, when they will head to India in early 2024 for a five-match series.
The trip is on the radar of Zak Crawley, who was initially rumoured to be the player to make way for Bairstow in the Ashes but ended up being England’s leading run-scorer with 480 at an average of 53.33.
England were greeted with prodigiously turning tracks on their last visit to India and the expectation is they will have to come through another trial by spin – although Crawley is hopeful of some variety.
“Sometimes in India it seams and swings a bit and they’ve got unbelievable seamers as well so hopefully there are a couple of pitches there that are like that as well, that will suit us a bit more,” he said.
“I feel like we play spin really well as well, we’ll just have to adapt and see what we get. I don’t know if they’re going to be raggers (turning pitches) like Ahmedabad and Chennai, where we were last time.”
Crawley set the tone for England at the outset of the Ashes by crunching the first ball of the series off Pat Cummins for four, while his runs came at a remarkable 88.72 strike-rate.
He looked assured on the whole against Australia’s vaunted quicks, boosted by his display against them in Sydney in January 2022, when he made a classy 77 that he rated as his best innings until recently.
“Before this series, that was the best knock I’ve ever played so it gave me a lot of confidence that under the pressure of fast bowling, that could bring out the best in me,” he added.
Asalanka leads Sri Lanka to ODI series win over West Indies
Sri Lanka wrapped up the ODI series against the West Indies with a five-wicket victory in Pallekele.
The hosts successfully chased down their opponents' total of 189, giving them an unassailable 2-0 in the three-match series.
Sri Lanka controlled the early powerplay - Asitha Fernando (3-35) and Maheesh Theekshana (3-25) took two wickets apiece to leave the tourists at 31-4 in the ninth over.
Wanindu Hasaranga (4-40) then claimed three of his four wickets as Roston Chase, Romario Shepherd, Hayden Walsh and Alzarri Joseph were all dismissed in the space of 14 balls.
However, Sherfane Rutherford (80 off 82 balls) and Gudakesh Motie (50 not out) steadied the ship to take the Windies from 58-8 to 189.
Although Joseph claimed Avishka Fernando (9) in the fourth over, Nishan Madushka and Sadeera Samarawickrama both chipped in with contributions of 38 to get the hosts to 112-4.
Skipper Charith Asalanka (62 not out) led the charge thereon, while Kamindu Mendis (11) comfortably got them over the line with 34 balls remaining.
Data Debrief: Rutherford-Motie historic stand proves academic for tourists
West Indies were looking to level the series, but their hopes were not aided by Sri Lanka's impressive bowling.
Rutherford and Motie did their best. Their partnership brought 119 runs, which is their nation's highest ninth-wicket stand in ODI history, breaking the previous record of 85 between Yannic Cariah and Alzarri Joseph.
However, it ultimately proved in vain as the hosts secured the series with a game to spare.
'I was a tired, grumpy old man' - Stokes apologised to England team-mates after Pakistan defeat
Ben Stokes says he apologised to his England team-mates after his frustrations were evident during the second-Test defeat by Pakistan.
The hosts levelled the three-Test series on Thursday after wrapping up a 152-run win in Multan.
However, it could have been a different story but for fielding errors at crucial stages for the visitors, Jamie Smith and Joe Root notably dropping catches to dismiss Salman Agha, whose subsequent knock of 63 helped Pakistan seal victory with a day to spare.
Stokes, who returned to action following a hamstring injury, could not hide his frustration during a difficult day for England, but insisted he would not let his emotions get the better of him again.
"No one means to drop catches, but it just proves how important catches are in these subcontinent conditions, they don't come along that often," he told Sky Sports.
"I actually apologised to the group last night. It's the first time in my captaincy that I've let my emotions and how I was feeling with the way the game was unfolding show in my body language.
"I owned up to that and was very annoyed at myself for letting that out. It's something that I don't want to do or be seen to be doing, so I apologised to the group about that.
"Poor old me, I was a tired, grumpy old man last night! You won't see that happen again."
However, England coach Brendon McCullum defended the actions of his skipper.
"We all know how passionate Ben is, how much it means for him to play for England," he said.
"We've seen that through his bloody-mindedness to get back from injury, which was significant, and to do so in a nine-week timeframe and to have his first TM [Test match] in extreme conditions, 40 degrees, and be able to give what he gave to the side.
"I think, maybe, that's where some of that frustration led to - certainly, it wasn't directed at any of the players. It was more about trying to assess the rhythm of the game, and to impact on it."
Sri Lanka breeze to series win over West Indies
Sri Lanka cruised to a nine-wicket victory over West Indies to seal a T20I series triumph.
With the series delicately poised at 1-1 heading into the final match on Thursday, Sri Lanka started with intent in Dambulla.
Maheesh Theekshana (2-19) and Wanindu Hasaranga (2-24) led the charge as Sri Lanka skittled through the Windies' top order.
Rovman Powell's stubborn 37 and a contribution of 32 from Gudakesh Motie steered West Indies to a reasonable total of 162-8, but it was one well within reach of Sri Lanka.
Pathum Nissanka clipped seven fours and one six in a 22-ball 37 to get Sri Lanka's chase rolling at pace, before he was bowled by Gudakesh Mottie (1-31).
Yet the damage was mostly done, with Kusal Mendis powering his way to an unbeaten 68 and Kusal Perera plundering 55 from 36 balls to get the job done with the minimum of fuss.
Data Debrief: Perera closing in on Sri Lanka record
Perera is now just nine runs away from surpassing Tillakaratne Dilshan (1,889) as the leading scorer in Sri Lanka's T20I history.
His efforts, combined with those of Nissanka and Mendis, saw Sri Lanka win for a fourth time in their last six T20Is at Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium, although this is the first time they have won at the venue in that run when batting second.
The Windies' miserable record in Asia has continued, meanwhile. They have won only one of their last 11 T20Is in Asia (L10), with that victory coming in the first match of this series. They have now lost 33 T20Is on the continent in total, with only Ireland (35) having lost more.
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