Joe Root has hinted that England are unlikely to take a chance on wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow in next week’s first Test against Sri Lanka.
Bairstow is still struggling to recover from an ankle injury he picked up while playing football in time for the opening Test in Galle, which begins on Tuesday November 6, live on Sky Sports Cricket.
And the England captain says the priority is to ensure his fellow Yorkshireman’s availability for the remainder of the winter programme – as well as the Ashes series and World Cup in 2019.
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“He’s doing everything he can to get himself fit as quickly as possible but it’s very difficult to tell,” Root told talkSPORT.
“All he can do is manage it as well as he can and we’ve got a very good medical staff that will do everything to get him on the park as soon as possible.
“But ultimately we’ve got to make sure Jonny Bairstow’s fit and ready to go for as long as possible, not for a one-off Test match and then missing a huge chunk of an important winter and then a very important summer.”
Jos Buttler is the most likely candidate to take over behind the stumps if Bairstow fails to regain fitness – as he did for the fourth Test against India in August.
However, uncapped Surrey wicketkeeper Ben Foakes – who was called up as cover following Bairstow’s injury – is also under consideration to take the gloves in Galle.
No final decision will be made until after both of England’s two-day warm-up games in Colombo against a Sri Lanka Cricket Board President’s XI, the first of which begins on Tuesday.
Places remain up for grabs at the top of the batting order following Alastair Cook’s retirement, but Root said he intends to bat at his preferred role at No. 4 during the upcoming series.
“Certain situations might dictate the order,” he added. “I don’t think we need to be as set in stone as having a rigid batting order, but for most of it I will look to bat at four.”
Watch the first Test between England and Sri Lanka live on Sky Sports Cricket on Tuesday, November 6 from 4am.
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