Jonny Bairstow has been ruled out of the remainder of England’s limited-overs leg of the tour of Sri Lanka after he injured his right ankle at training before the fourth ODI.
Bairstow sustained the injury while playing football before the match in Pallekele and consequently missed the game where England beat Sri Lanka by 18 runs (DLS method) to go 3-0 up in the five-match series with one game to go. Alex Hales replaced Bairstow in the England XI then.
"We are quite honest with where we’re at and where we need to improve" – Eoin Morgan after 'scrappy' show against Sri Lanka.https://t.co/u8KcAnhkvb
— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) October 21, 2018
The England management has now confirmed that the wicket-keeper batsman will miss the final ODI in Colombo on Tuesday as well as the one-off T20I on Saturday.
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“He will be monitored and assessed on a daily basis by the England medical team in Sri Lanka and a further update will be given in due course on his fitness ahead of the three-match Test series starting next month,” read an ECB statement.
The practice of playing football before a match isn’t the best in the eyes of England head coach Trevor Bayliss but players continue to play because they enjoy it.
Love this @josbuttler! 👐 pic.twitter.com/5YXljUKA4I
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) October 19, 2018
The injury may also force Bairstow tomiss some part of the forthcoming three-Test series, which begins in Galle on November 6.
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If that happens, Jos Buttler, who kept wickets in the fourth ODI in Bairsotw’s absence and also kept wickets for England in their last Test series, against India, may be tasked with the responsibility behind the stumps. Additionally, England have Rory Burns in their squad, who keeps wickets for Surrey.
