T20 World Cup 2022

Jonny Bairstow rebuffs ‘ridiculous’ WhatsApp injury rumour

by Wisden Staff September 3, 2022 - 8:39pm 3 minute read

Jonny Bairstow has taken to Instagram to rebuff a rumour, circulated on WhatsApp, about the origin of the injury which has ruled him out of England’s T20 World Cup campaign.

Bairstow was named in England’s T20 World Cup squad on Friday morning, only to be ruled out the same day after sustaining a lower limb injury in a “freak accident whilst playing golf”, according to the ECB. Bairstow, posting on Instagram, stated that the injury was the result of him slipping over, with the injury to require surgery.

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An audio message from an unidentified source, circulated on WhatsApp, offered a different version of events, citing a friend who, according to the message, works in the club shop at Ganton Golf Club in Scarborough, stating that the incident which caused the injury involved England Test captain Ben Stokes.

Bairstow, again posting on Instagram, debunked the rumour, branding the voice note “ridiculous”. “I’ve never played at Ganton,” he wrote. “Haven’t seen Ben [Stokes] since the end of the last Test… I was near home playing with two friends. And finally… I wouldn’t play for a cheese and ham toastie never mind anything else as I am a tight Yorkshireman!”