Jonny Bairstow's Test career all but over after West Indies snub as Rob Key delivers huge update

Rob Key, England men's managing director, has hinted that Jonny Bairstow's Test career may have come to an end. England recently announced their squad for the first two Tests of the forthcoming three-match series against West Indies and Jonny Bairstow failed to make the cut.

Along with him, Ben Foakes has been dropped from the squad as well as England have decided to try out uncapped wicketkeeper-batsman Jamie Smith. With England looking to rebuild the Test team after the humiliating outing in India earlier this year, Rob Key has said that the only way for Jonny Bairstow to reclaim his position in the Test team is to regain the form that made him an integral part of the team two summers ago.

In 2022 when Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum took charge as captain and coach respectively, Jonny Bairstow had come up with a stunning performance during the home season. In five games, he had scored 4 centuries to help England start their journey under Stokes in an explosive way.

However, things have gone downhill ever since Jonny Bairstow returned to action after spending nearly a year on the sidelines following a freak accident on a golf course that had left him with a broken leg. The right-handed batsman had a terrible outing in India earlier this year, where his top score in 10 innings was only 38.

Rob Key on Jonny Bairstow's Test career:

After the squad announcement, Rob Key explained the reason behind dropping Jonny Bairstow from the Test team. He stated that the veteran batsman's form has been going in the wrong direction across formats. Key also highlighted that the England team management was not convinced that Bairstow would be able to deliver as a wicketkeeper series after series at his age, hinting that England might have moved on from him in Tests.

"People are never happy when they're dropped, and I never want them to be," Key said.

"Jonny just needs to get back to what he was a couple of years ago. Generally his form, in all formats, has just been going slightly in the wrong direction.

"You want him to get back to what he was when Brendon and Ben [Stokes] started out. It's an arduous task being a keeper. You want someone who can back up series after series, and we weren't convinced that Jonny would be able to do that, especially at the stage of his career that he's at," added Key.