Ed Smith: "Selection principles have to flex given the circumstances"

Jonny Bairstow, Sam Curran and Mark Wood will miss the first two Tests of England's series against India, while Jos Buttler will depart after the first match, handing Ben Foakes an opportunity as wicketkeeper

The decision to rest Jonny Bairstow, Sam Curran and Mark Wood for the first half of England’s Test series against India was founded on a pragmatic policy in tune with current circumstances, explained Ed Smith.

The chief selector was speaking following the announcement of a 16-man squad for England’s first two Tests of a four-match series, with further changes to be made at the halfway stage.

Bairstow, Curran and Wood will then re-join Joe Root’s touring party for the third and fourth Tests, while Jos Buttler will depart after the first Test, handing Ben Foakes an opportunity as wicketkeeper.

The unusual rotation plans were initially set out by Smith in December ahead of a post-Christmas schedule including two Tests in Sri Lanka and a multiformat tour of India. Amid a congested fixture list for 2021, England are due to play 17 Tests, as well as several ODIs and T20Is in the build-up to the T20 World Cup in the autumn.

With that long-term planning in mind, Jofra Archer and Ben Stokes have both sat out the ongoing two-Test series in Sri Lanka.

“To me, it’s quite obvious that selection principles have to flex given the circumstances, given the amount of cricket that England has and given the way in which cricket teams have to live and travel in a Covid era,” said Smith.

“We cannot expect to play the same XI in every game. It’s not going to lead to high-performance. It’s a purely pragmatic argument for doing what we’re doing, which is that we want to win, we want players at their best and we want players fresh and rested. Obviously, that is also a selection challenge, which is what makes it so interesting.

^{Jos Buttler will return home after the first Test}

“If you go back a couple of years, we needed to develop that depth across positions, so if someone’s not available for whatever reason – it might be that it’s paternity leave like Rory Burns or that someone’s being rested like Ben Stokes and Jofra Archer – we have players in all positions to come in and do a really good job, so that Joe Root and Chris Silverwood are happy on the day. They have the archetypes in every position, they can cope with injury, they can cope with rest and rotation. That’s exactly what we’re seeing now.

“Obviously, it’s early stages and we want to get better and better at it, but we’re sticking to our principles that we believe – and there’s real evidence to support it – are the best way forward for England cricket.”

The fruits of England’s increasing strength in depth have been evident thus far in Sri Lanka, with Dan Lawrence impressing on debut in Galle and Bairstow returning to the Test fold with an accomplished display at No.3 in a seven-wicket victory in the first Test.

Smith explained that he had spoken to the Yorkshire batsman, a key figure in England’s white-ball plans, about plans for his block rest period. By bringing Bairstow back into the Test squad for the third and fourth Tests, Smith added, it would then enable him to continue on with the white-ball leg of the India trip thereafter.

Jonny Bairstow, Mark Wood and Sam Curran rested for first half of India Test series

“He completely understands that and endorses it,” said Smith of Bairstow’s rest period, which will come just two appearances into his Test comeback, having previously not played red-ball cricket for England since December 2019.

“Whatever time you take rest, there’s always a downside because these guys – Jonny included – love playing for England. They also understand that they need their rest, so there are always two sides to it, but it felt like the right thing to do – for Jonny to take his break now because obviously he’s a key part of the white-ball setup.”

Smith stressed: “We are being pragmatic. The pragmatism being that if you keep people in a bubble unchanged for three months and expect them to play every game in every format, they will not be able to perform at their best.

^{Jonny Bairstow returned to Test cricket in Sri Lanka}

“It is absolutely a pragmatic point that we wish to give people breaks, as we’ve discussed with the players. They also see that it’s for the players’ benefit as well as for England’s benefit. It’s pragmatism which is the foundation of our whole policy.

“We want to have a selection policy which is adapting to the world we live in today, which is bubbles, which is an incredibly congested fixture list with so many games of cricket for England, particularly for those multiformat players.

“We need to have the flexibility to do what’s best for them and what’s best for England. Of course, if we believe we need to revisit a decision, we’ll revisit it, absolutely. But the principle is anchored in flexibility and pragmatism, doing the right thing for the player and the right thing for the team.”

Smith added as well that he felt the policy of bringing players in and out of a squad was an important part of his belief “that the concept of a tour needs to be modernised”.

England make one change for second Sri Lanka Test

He said: “We’re not traveling by boat, we don’t go away five months at a time. We need to be more nimble. And if we need to break a tour up so we can get people in and get people out for their good and for England’s good, we’ll do it.”

As for Ollie Pope, who will accompany the travelling party to India and will join the squad when deemed fit to play following a shoulder injury, Smith was keen not to place a timeframe on that process. However, he suggested that he would be added “as soon as he’s fit”.

Looking further into the future, with England due to face India in five T20Is and three ODIs in March, Smith also played down the possibility of a return for Alex Hales, who has enjoyed a fruitful Big Bash campaign with Sydney Thunder.

“At the moment, I would expect things to stay as they are there,” he explained. “No doors are closed in terms of there’s no final decision. It’s not that it’s going to be the same indefinitely. But at the moment, if I had to make a prediction, I would say we’d stay as we are.”