In-form Bairstow keen for limited-overs role

With two hundreds in his last four Tests, as well as 24 catches in his last three, Jonny Bairstow has seemingly silenced debate about his place in the side. He is not ready to stop there, however, and hopes to persuade the selectors to find room for him in England’s white-ball set-up as well.

Bairstow has averaged 46.93 since returning to the Test XI at the expense of his Yorkshire team-mate Gary Ballance during last year’s Ashes, while the hard work he has put into his wicketkeeping looks to be paying off as well. Bairstow took the gloves when Jos Buttler was dropped in the UAE and has now twice claimed nine catches in the match – two shy of the record – during emphatic England wins at the Wanderers and Headingley.

While his renaissance was founded on 1108 runs at 92.33 while keeping wicket for Yorkshire as they once again secured the Championship title in 2015, the spark in international cricket came during an ODI against New Zealand last June, when an unbeaten 83 from 60 balls led England to victory in the deciding match of the series at Chester-le-Street.

Bairstow has played just three more ODIs and a single T20 since then, with Buttler preferred as England’s limited-overs keeper, but the injury suffered by Ben Stokes at Headingley, which is expected to keep him out for six weeks, as well as James Taylor’s retirement could pave the way for a return during next month’s one-day fixtures with Sri Lanka.

“I want to play every format I can. Absolutely,” Bairstow said. “I want to play all forms of cricket for England, that’s an ambition I have. I want to succeed in that. If that opportunity does arise, I don’t see any reason why Jos and I can’t play in the same side. I …

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