Geoffrey Boycott has said Jonny Bairstow is “a shadow of his best” and should be dropped from England’s Test side in favour of Ben Foakes for the fourth Ashes Test at Old Trafford.
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Bairstow has dropped six catches in the series so far, including Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne at Headingley. Alongside Joe Root, he has the highest number of dropped catch for the series, while his Australia counterpart, Alex Carey, has dropped two. With the bat, aside from his first innings score in the Edgbaston Test of 78, Bairstow has registered scores of 20, 16, 10, 12 and five. In his latest column for The Telegraph, Boycott has argued this record no longer warrants a place over Foakes, an important member of England’s Test side until this summer.
“England took a calculated gamble and it hasn’t worked,” wrote Boycott. “In three Tests he has dropped catches, missed a stumping and can’t score any runs. It is very sad and outwardly he may show he is upbeat and full of exuberance, but when you fail on the big stage in the full glare of publicity there is nowhere to hide and deep down it affects your confidence. Someone needs to be brave for him and take him out of the limelight.
“Some people say never change a winning team. I disagree. My experience of playing at the highest level for so long and my common sense tells me that Jonny Bairstow is not fit…He isn’t moving 100 per cent right and is short of competitive batting and wicketkeeping. He has been selected on last summer’s marvellous match-winning batting, but at this moment in time is a shadow of his best.”
Bairstow averaged 75.66 in his blistering Test summer last year, with four centuries in a glorious run of form against New Zealand and India. However, for the majority of that summer, Bairstow was not keeping wicket with Foakes in the side. Given Harry Brook is now established as a fixture in the middle order, England have too many names to fit into their batting line-up.
Foakes’ keeping ability makes him the superior option behind the stumps, while his two centuries also make him a workable option with the bat. If England are to select him, they could opt to shift things around enough to get both into the side, but that would mean dropping one of their bowlers who featured at Headingley, and also going with a makeshift option at No.3.
“When Jonny is at his best he is a better plus for England than Ben Foakes,” wrote Boycott. “But at the moment he is dropping things and not moving properly. So sorry, take him out of the pressure cooker. He can come back later but he has got to get himself right. When he is picked ahead of Foakes, his keeping has to be safe and he has to score runs. He is not doing either. I don’t take any pleasure in it. I like Jonny, I would pick him every time ahead of Foakes when he is playing well.
“All this stuff about picking your best keeper is rubbish but at the moment Jonny is not safe with his keeping and is rusty. That is the problem. I forecast that. I wouldn’t have picked him until the third Test and made him play for Yorkshire to get some competitive cricket under his belt. You can’t sustain a serious injury like that and think you can come back straightaway against a team as good as Australia.
“It needs some courage now from Stokes to leave Jonny out. England have to win at Old Trafford and not focus on the Oval and maybe creating history. They have to square the series first and that is about focusing on the present and not getting ahead of themselves.”
England have nine days in between Tests to mull over their selection dilemmas before the game at Old Trafford. In that time Foakes will have completed a Championship game for Surrey at The Kia Oval, where he made 46 on day one against Nottinghamshire. England are 7/2 underdogs to regain the Ashes with Betway.
