Jonny Bairstow To Miss Start Of The Hundred's Second Season
England batter Jonny Bairstow will not be taking part in the initial stages of ECB’s brainchild, The Hundred. He has opted to rest following a grueling home summer season, as per ESPNcricinfo.
Bairstow is part of Welsh Fire and was set to take part in the opening game of the season against Southern Brave on Wednesday. However, he will now miss the game and join the Test team ahead of the series against South Africa.
After the Test series against the Proteas, England will travel to Pakistan for a 7-match T20I series. They will then move to Australia for the T20 World Cup as well as a bilateral series.
From thereon, the team is scheduled to tour South Africa, New Zealand, and Bangladesh, in what will be a long drawn-out winter season. Therefore, it wasn’t feasible for Bairstow to play in the first few games of the Hundred.
The news comes on the back of Ben Stokes’ withdrawal from the competition. He is part of the Northern Superchargers squad but will now be focusing on international commitments.
Meanwhile, England announced a 14-man squad for the first Test against the visiting Proteas. Ollie Robinson returns to the fold in place of Jamie Overton, who is injured.
“It’s good to get Ollie Robinson back in the mix after his recent injury. He will continue his progress by playing for the Lions against South Africa in a four-day match at Canterbury next week,” Mo Bobat, performance director of ECB, stated.
England squad for 1st Test:
Ben Stokes (C), James Anderson, Jack Leach, Alex Lees, Jonny Bairstow, Craig Overton, Stuart Broad, Matthew Potts, Harry Brook, Ollie Pope, Zak Crawley, Ollie Robinson, Ben Foakes, Joe Root.
