Jonny Bairstow aims to push hard for England Test recall

Jonny Bairstow finds himself in an unfamiliar territory having being usurped by a newcomer in England‘s Test XI. Currently with the squad on Sri Lanka tour, the England wicketkeeper-batsman picked up an ankle injury during the ODI series from which he couldn’t recover on time for the first Test.

Thus, his role of a specialist wicketkeeper for the fixture went to Ben Foakes who made an instant impact both with the gloves and the bat on debut. His century on debut was instrumental in England taking a 1-0 lead and captain Joe Root persisted with the winning combination for the second Test as well despite Bairstow attaining fitness. As it turned out, the tourists went on to win the match and thus clinched a historic series as well.

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Having witnessed his teammates clinch victory from the sidelines, Bairstow is pondering how to break into the playing XI. While he does accept selection is not in his hands, he will continue to push for his claim.

“Look, selection is above my pay grade and that’s why you want to be giving other people headaches with that,” he told talkSPORT. “I’m training hard, hitting the ball nicely in the nets and I’d like to think people know that in the background I’ll be pushing as hard as possible to be playing this week.

The 29-year-old averages 37.19 in 59 Tests with 3571 runs along with five centuries and 19 fifties. Despite the presence of another option in Jos Buttler, he was England’s first-choice behind the stumps. Now, with Buttler playing as a specialist batsman and Foakes making an early impression, Bairstow is banking on his past record to stand him in good stead.

“I’ve worked hard and had that spot for two-and-a-half years, so to do that – keep wicket, bat at five, six or seven in all different conditions I’m very proud of that,” he said.

The third Test starts from November 23 in Colombo.