Jonny Bairstow stated he feels sympathy in the direction of fellow wicketkeeper Ben Foakes after he was ignored of the England Test squad for the Ashes warm-up towards Ireland.
Foakes was dropped to accommodate wicketkeeper-batter Bairstow, who scored six centuries in 2022 earlier than struggling a leg harm in September that stored him out of the T20 World Cup in Australia.
In Bairstow’s absence, Foakes established himself as the primary alternative behind the stumps underneath coach Brendon McCullum and captain Ben Stokes in the course of the group’s streak of 10 victories in 12 checks.
“I’ve been in that same position previously around getting dropped so I’ve got a huge amount of sympathy for Ben (Foakes) and for anyone really who gets dropped,” Bairstow, who final stored a wicket for England in a check in 2021, instructed the BBC on Wednesday.
“He’ll be back I’m sure because, in the last 12 months, he’s been a big part of what we’ve been about, he’s been a big part of the group.
“It’s never an easy decision and never a position you want to be in.”
Former captain Michael Atherton supported the England board’s choice to select Bairstow over Foakes.
“My own view is that Bairstow is more likely to help England win a match with bat than lose it with gloves. He would be my choice,” Atherton wrote in his column for The Times newspaper.
“It is not hard to imagine the destruction he might cause, coming in at number seven against an old ball and a tiring attack.”
England will face Ireland at Lord’s on June 1 earlier than the five-Test Ashes sequence towards Australia begins at Edgbaston on June 16.
Source: sportstar.thehindu.com