Jonny Bairstow to open for England at World Cup, as Rob Key reveals phone call with Alex Hales

GEORGE DOBELL: Bairstow has generally batted in the middle order in England's T20 side but, with Jason Roy dropped, will take on the role he has fulfilled with such great success in the ODI side, despite Hales fine recent form

Jonny Bairstow will return to the top of the order for England T20 World Cup campaign despite Alex Hales' claims for a recall.

Bairstow has generally batted in the middle order in England's T20 side but, with Jason Roy dropped, will take on the role he has fulfilled with such great success in the ODI side. Jos Buttler will be the other opener.

That is despite Hales, who has not played international cricket since early 2019, phoning Rob Key, the managing director of England men's cricket, and making his case for a recall.

Bairstow has opened in 16 of his 66 T20I matches and averages 24.31 with a strike-rate of 133.67 in the role. He has batted 36 times in the middle order (No.4 to No.6) and averages 27.88 with a strike rate of 131.01 in the role. Hales has opened in 55 of his 60 T20Is and averages 30.51 at a strike rate of 136.77.

Bairstow's promotion means Dawid Malan is set to bat at No.3 but in the understanding that other players – notably Ben Stokes – could be promoted should the match situation demand it.

^{Alex Hales called Rob Key to make his case for an England recall [Getty Images]}

"We felt Jonny Bairstow is one of the best openers in T20 cricket in the world," Key said. "He's done it in the IPL, but been very good in the middle order as well, and we felt the best combination at this time was Jonny and Jos.

"Alex Hales was mentioned when we spoke about who the best opening partner for Jos was. His name was mentioned a lot but we felt Jonny Bairstow was the man to do that in the World Cup.

"I've said on a number of occasions that I feel Alex Hales has served his time for his misdemeanours. Now it's on form, selection and whether we feel they are the best person to go out there. At the moment we feel Jonny Bairstow is that person.

"I spoke to Alex Hales, he rang me actually, and he argued why he wasn't there and I think that's quite right too. I much prefer when these people pick up the phone and say, 'come on then, why wasn’t I there?' I've a huge amount of respect for that as opposed to people who go behind the scenes moaning about why they've not been picked.

"I still think he's a fantastic player but the timing [of his loss of form] has been awful for him"

Rob Key on the decision to drop Jason Roy

“It's just an unfortunate time where there's a hell of a lot of very good players. People say it's a good problem to have but it's not straightforward with who you pick as a batter in this format of white-ball cricket because there’s so many good options. There's a lot of people who have also missed out who quite rightly could have said 'how come I'm not in?'"

Key also spoke to Roy, who described himself as "gutted" by the decision to leave him out.

"He was obviously very disappointed," Key said. "Gutted was the phrase he used. He wanted to make sure this wasn't the end. You always feel these are long meaningful chats when you speak to players about this stuff.

"Actually Jos was the one who rang him. Jos wanted to be the one to tell him. They obviously have a relationship and he felt he was the right person to tell him. Myself and Matthew Mott have spoken to him since. He's obviously very disappointed and wants to have a chance to show he's not finished in international cricket, which I don't think he is.

"I still think he's a fantastic player but the timing [of his loss of form] has been awful for him, to lose form at that time. To not have a huge amount of time to stop, reset, and then find it again. Certainly in that white-ball series, the close nature of every game means once you got on a roll in one way it's very hard to get out of.

^{Rob Key has confirmed Jonny Bairstow will open the batting at the T20 World Cup [Getty Images]}

"The game is about confidence as much as anything else. If he finds that again he is one of the best openers around when he's at the top of his game. I don't see it by any stretch that his T20 career is over.

"It's just a case of him finding form, and I'm sure he will have plenty of opportunities in the abundance of T20 cricket that there is around the world to find that form again. I would argue that the 50-over format is his strongest suit and we still see him as very much part of this setup. But, given his white-ball summer and then The Hundred, we feel it's too much of a gamble to continue going into Pakistan and straight into Australia.

In terms of the middle order, Key suggested Malan was "pencilled in" at No.3 but expressed a desire to "get Ben Stokes up the order a little bit in T20 cricket."

"I feel generally we haven't quite found his best role," Key said. "Having him come in later doesn't get the best out of Ben Stokes. There's a great line in his documentary where they say 'big moments find him' and you want to give him the opportunity. I don't think we've done that in T20 cricket. When he's done well in the IPL, I'd argue it's been when he's opened the batting or got in early.

"All of a sudden Ben Stokes has a chance to influence a game. I'd like to get Ben Stokes up the order a little bit in T20 cricket.

ENGLAND WORLD CUP SQUAD

Jos Buttler, Moeen Ali, Jonathan Bairstow, Harry Brook, Sam Curran , Chris Jordan, Liam Livingstone, Dawid Malan, Adil Rashid, Phil Salt, Ben Stokes, Reece Topley, David Willey, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood (travelling reserves: Richard Gleeson, Liam Dawson, Tymal Mills)

"The challenge for Malan was for him to show he's got another gear. Him and Matthew Mott spoke when he got left out of the 50-over squad and Dawid said 'I have got another gear I can go to' and Matthew said 'let's see it then' and that's what he's done in The Hundred. In Australia you feel he has a good game for wickets we're assuming will have a bit more pace and bounce. It should be right up Dawid's street.”

Key has been delighted to be able to include several players who have been injured for some time – notably Mark Wood and Chris Woakes – in the squads, but admits there is an element of "fingers crossed" about their involvement.

"They are back in with fingers crossed is probably the best way you could say it," Key said. "The likelihood is with Wood and Woakes that they will start getting fit towards the back end of that Pakistan trip. We've got to somehow make sure if they are our best options they are in rhythm and in form. It's no good having them back if they're not able to perform to the best of their ability.

"It's great to have those guys back, people we haven't had for a while in any format, and now let's hope our luck changes in terms of injuries and we have those guys able to take a full role when it comes to the World Cup."

Related Topics

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