National selector Ed Smith says Jonny Bairstow understands why he has not been included in the England squad for the first half of their Test series against India.
Bairstow, Sam Curran and Mark Wood have been rested for the opening two matches of a series that gets underway at MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on February 5.
Jofra Archer, Ben Stokes and Rory Burns return, while Ollie Pope will be added to a 16-man squad when he has fully recovered from a shoulder operation.
The squad was named on the eve of a second Test versus Sri Lanka which England will start looking to secure a 2-0 series whitewash.
Batsman Bairstow made 47 and an unbeaten 35 in a seven-wicket win for the tourists in Galle last week after being recalled for a first Test appearance since facing South Africa at the end of 2019.
Smith explained that the decision to omit Bairstow was taken to ensure he has enough time off with such a hectic schedule to come this year, including the T20 World Cup in India.
"I spoke at length to Jonny yesterday, as well as at Loughborough before the Sri Lankan tour," Smith said.
"[I said to Bairstow he has] a fantastic opportunity coming up in Sri Lanka, where we expect you to get game time. But at some point, as is the case with the other multi-format players, you're going to need your rest too, and he completely understands that and endorses it."
Smith added: "Whenever you take rest there's always a downside. These guys, Jonny included, love playing for England, but they also understand that they need their rest, so there's always two sides to it.
"But it felt right for Jonny to take his break now, because obviously he's a key part of the white-ball set-up, so that he can continue on with that when he comes back into the Test squad, as we build towards a very important cycle in the T20s, with the World Cup in the autumn."
Smith was impressed with the impact Bairstow made on his return in the longest format.
"It was great to see Jonny looking very focused and clear in Test cricket. He was given lots of visibility ahead of time that he would be likely to bat three, playing as a batsman," he said.
"But over the long term, as I've said many times, I think Jonny is a highly talented player, and we know he brings a lot to the party and can play a number of different roles. That remains the case."
England squad for first two Tests against India:
Joe Root (captain), Jofra Archer, Moeen Ali, James Anderson, Dom Bess, Stuart Broad, Rory Burns, Jos Buttler, Zak Crawley, Ben Foakes, Dan Lawrence, Jack Leach, Dom Sibley, Ben Stokes, Olly Stone, Chris Woakes.
Reserves:
James Bracey, Mason Crane, Saqib Mahmood, Matt Parkinson, Ollie Robinson, Amar Virdi.
Ben Duckett leads the way with record hundred as England turn screw on Ireland
Ben Duckett marked his first Test innings on home soil with a chanceless and record-breaking 150 to help England reach lunch on day two on 325 for one with total control of the one-off Test with Ireland.
Duckett had closed the opening day on 60 not out but raced through to his milestone with a succession of drives to bring up his second red-ball century for his country from 106 deliveries.
In his 10th Test since his debut in Bangladesh in 2016, opener Duckett showed why he is the perfect fit for Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes’ aggressive ‘Bazball’ style to reach his 150 off the same amount of balls and in the process beat Australian great Don Bradman’s record for the quickest 150 at Lord’s.
Duckett walked off at lunch unbeaten on 161 with a strike rate of 100.62 alongside Ollie Pope, who had not been at his fluent best but played his part with 97 not out in an unbroken 216-run partnership for the second wicket and will eye his own place on the Lord’s honours board in the afternoon session.
Day one of this Ashes summer started “almost perfectly” in the words of Stuart Broad, whose five-wicket haul helped bowl Ireland out quickly after tea and saw England almost into a lead by the close.
England barely needed 15 minutes to move beyond the tourists’ total on the second day with Duckett, who had been watchful following Zak Crawley’s dismissal on Thursday night, again in fine touch.
Duckett cut the first ball of the day to the boundary and a drive straight down the ground off Graham Hume nudged England into a lead after 29.2 overs, 27 fewer than it had taken red-ball novices Ireland to reach 172.
Another drive saw Duckett move into the eighties and within sight of a second century at Lord’s this season after he hit 177 here for Nottinghamshire in April.
With Mark Adair struggling with his line and length, Duckett raced onto 99 with a cover drive and flick off his pads down to the fine leg boundary in a 35th over that brought up the hundred partnership with Pope.
The next over produced further milestones with Duckett able to celebrate three figures after he nudged into the leg side for a single to short midwicket.
Duckett held his arms aloft after he made it to a hundred from 106 deliveries, having hit 14 boundaries in a chanceless innings where the only hint of danger occurred when he raced down the wicket for a quick single before he equally rapidly turned back off Adair’s second over of the day.
With Duckett’s name on the Lord’s honours board, Pope set about joining him and reached fifty in the same over.
Pope had looked at his effortless best at the end of day one, hitting five fours to close on 29 not out off 35 balls, but was more frenetic during the first hour with the occasional play and miss married with the odd boundary down to third man that did not always look completely controlled.
Despite that, England were still rattling along at more than six runs an over with Ireland lacking the X-factor of rested seamer Josh Little following his Indian Premier League exploits.
Off-spinner Andrew McBrine and debutant Fionn Hand were tasked with stemming the flow of runs after the drinks break and while they momentarily did, Pope survived a review for lbw to close in on his own century.
The session belonged to Duckett though, who started to bring out the sweep shot and two off Hand helped him beat Bradman’s previous record of 150 off 163 deliveries during the 1930 Ashes.
Australia’s Marnus Labuschagne ‘as hungry as ever’ to score runs
Marnus Labuschagne is hungry to score runs ahead of Australia’s World Test Championship final against India and this summer’s Ashes series.
Australia’s packed summer schedule begins next week against India before they face England in a bid to retain the Ashes.
And Labuschagne admitted he is mentally ready for the upcoming challenges, having become a mainstay at number three in Australia’s batting line-up.
“Mentally, I am as hungry as ever to score runs and I want us to win the series,” Labuschagne said.
“I’m a more consistent player in the side so in terms of the feeling it’s more about preparation where in 2019 I felt like I had to prove to people that I was good enough.”
Labuschagne looked back at Australia’s 4-0 series win over England in 2022 and called for a similar outcome when the sides renew their rivalry later this month.
And the Glamorgan player shed light on how his side will prepare in the days and weeks ahead, with a short turnaround between games against India and England.
He added: “I’m not going to get into a verbal battle but it’s a series and Australia dominated that series (4-0 in 2022) and that’s about as much said and our job is to perform no matter of the circumstances and we did that, so hopefully we can continue to do that this series.
“We’ve played a lot of their (India’s) main seamers two months ago so in terms of seeing them and knowing their actions, we’re pretty clear on that.
“The reality is that I’ve played against (England’s) Ollie Robinson, Josh Tongue and Matt Potts this year, I’ve played against all those guys, I know what they bowl so it’s just about preparing well and understanding what they’re going to do.
“Jimmy (Anderson), Broady (Stuart Broad) and Ollie Rob (Robinson) are probably going to come in but it’s a matter of mentally preparing for each one, there’s similarities between each bowler even though they play for different teams.”
England will be without key bowler Jofra Archer who has been ruled out of the Ashes with an elbow injury.
Labuschagne talked up the fast bowler and admitted England are at a disadvantage without him.
“I always want to play against the best players,” Labuschagne said. “Any England team that doesn’t have Archer in it isn’t as strong so that’s always a benefit from a playing-against perspective. You always want to see the best players on the park and that’s what is good for Test cricket.”
England openers shine after Stuart Broad takes five on first day against Ireland
Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley wasted little time getting back into the groove for England with a century stand against Ireland at Lord’s in what proved to be a near-perfect first day to an eagerly anticipated Test summer for the hosts.
Both openers scored fifties and played true to the aggressive ‘Bazball’ style that has taken the nation by storm since Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum took over the red-ball team last summer.
England finished the opening day of this one-off Test on 151 for one and only 20 runs behind Ireland, who were dismissed for 172 at the start of the evening session thanks to Stuart Broad’s first five-wicket haul at Lord’s in 10 years.
Broad ripped through Ireland’s top order during the first hour with a trio of scalps to reduce the tourists to 19 for three before Paul Stirling played fire with fire in an entertaining knock of 30.
Ireland opener James McCollum backed him up with 36 and all-rounder Curtis Campher chipped in with 33, but Broad would not be denied his chance to go on the Lord’s honours board and finished with five for 51 off 17 overs after good support by Jack Leach and Matthew Potts.
All eyes were then on Crawley, who kicked off an enormous two months for England with a punch through cover for four off his second ball.
It was a sign of things to come with the fifty partnership brought up after 7.2 overs and Duckett happy to cut away to the boundary on his first Test innings on home soil.
After a slight lull of 28 balls without a boundary, Crawley produced four fours from his next six balls but three were via the inside edge with the heavily scrutinised Kent batter not as fluent as his fellow opener.
Duckett beat his partner to a half-century off 53 balls with two runs down to third man during a milestone 16th over that also saw Crawley reach fifty, from 39 deliveries, with a sumptuous cover drive.
The hundred partnership was also brought up in that Mark Adair over but, in the next, the opening stand was ended when Ireland Test debutant Fionn Hand produced a stunning caught and bowled to see off Crawley for 56.
Nottinghamshire’s Duckett remained undeterred and finished the day 60 not out after England’s new vice-captain Ollie Pope helped himself to a breezy 29 not out at a sun-soaked Lord’s.
England’s start to the day had not been smooth sailing with their arrival from the team’s Kensington hotel delayed by five minutes due to Just Stop Oil protesters but once Stokes had put Ireland into bat, Broad quickly set about trying to get his name on the honours board.
In the absence of rested duo James Anderson and Ollie Robinson, the Nottinghamshire seamer relished the chance to lead the attack and produced a fine opening spell of three for 14 from five overs.
Broad had to wait until his 14th delivery to make the breakthrough but Peter Moor was pinned in front lbw for 10 and his next over produced even more drama.
Ireland captain Andrew Balbirnie edged to second slip, where Crawley took an excellent low catch diving to his left and Harry Tector followed his skipper back to the pavilion two balls later.
Tector inexplicably flicked straight to Potts at leg slip, which saw Broad produce his trademark shocked face in celebration but he was denied a hat-trick opportunity when an lbw decision against Stirling was overturned on review after ball-tracker showed it was missing leg stump.
It enabled Stirling to lead a mini-recovery and he put on 45 with opener McCollum, but Leach ended the fun of the former Middlesex batter for 30 after another attempted sweep flicked off his glove and gave Jonny Bairstow a simple first catch behind the stumps since replacing Ben Foakes.
After making it to lunch on 78 for four, Broad ended McCollum’s hard-fought 36 off 108 deliveries when he edged to Joe Root at first slip before Campher took the fight to England despite being hit on the helmet by England debutant Josh Tongue.
It saw Ireland make it through a second session but Broad claimed his 20th Test five-wicket haul after tea when he hit the top of Adair’s off-stump.
Leach had provided able support and finished with three for 35 after the dismissals of Lorcan Tucker and Campher before Potts brought the tourists’ first innings to an end when Hand edged behind to Bairstow in the 57th over.
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