Jonny Bairstow: I’m fighting to win back England spot after Ben Foakes took his chance

Jonny Bairstow admits he faces a fight to regain his place in England’s Test team following Ben Foakes’s stunning introduction to international cricket during the first two matches of this series in Sri Lanka.

The Surrey wicketkeeper was only afforded his big chance following the ankle injury Bairstow sustained playing football in the pre-match warm-up before last month’s fourth one-day international - the latest football-related injury to befall an England cricketer over the years.

Foakes has grabbed his opportunity, making a huge impact with the bat from No7 in the order, scoring a match-defining hundred on debut in Galle and an important unbeaten 65 during England’s second innings in Kandy last week that helped set up a win that saw Joe Root’s team wrap up the series with a match to spare.

It is only natural Bairstow is disappointed at how things have panned so far on this tour and he admits that watching the 25-year-old do so well has been hard on a personal level.

“Of course,” he told TalkSport. “I’ve worked hard and had that spot for two-and-a-half years and over the 40 or so Tests I think my overall average is about 42 so to do that – keep wicket, bat at five or six or seven in all different conditions I’m very proud of that.

“And yes, Ben came in and has played well. Look, selection is above my pay grade that’s why you want to be giving other people headaches with that. I’m training hard, hitting the ball nicely in the nets and I’d like to think people know that in the background I’ll be pushing as hard as possible to be playing this week.”

So good has Foakes been with the gloves – he has taken five catches and two brilliant stumpings over the two Tests – there is little doubt he is a superior keeper to Bairstow, who despite improving vastly is nowhere near as naturally talented as the man who has taken his place.

England coach Trevor Bayliss lavished praise on Foakes after the Kandy Test, saying he looked “like he has played 30 or 40 Tests” and, injury permitting, he looks set to be England’s wicketkeeper for the foreseeable future.

That is no doubt harsh on Bairstow, who has an excellent record since taking over the gloves from Jos Buttler for the final Test against Pakistan at Sharjah in November 2015.

Bayliss was also quick to praise the attitude of Bairstow - regarded by many as a character not well predisposed to criticism or failure – saying he had been “absolutely fantastic” after he was forced to sit out the first two Tests.

However, where Bairstow comes back in to the side is hard to say but it appears likely his best route back is as a specialist batsman.

The fact Bairstow knows his stats almost down to the decimal point – in 40 Tests as keeper he averages 41.95 – is another sign he is a player who feels he has had to constantly justify his place in the team since establishing himself three years ago.

But this latest setback is one he is promising to meet head on.

“There’s challenges all the way – conditions you face, roles in teams that you have, so of course that’s the positive way to look at it because if you don’t look at it that way you wouldn’t be doing the job we’re doing.”

With all-rounder Sam Curran sustaining a side strain in Kandy, Bairstow could come back into the team for this week’s final Test in Colombo if England feel conditions at the Sinhalese Sports Club – expected to be a flat pitch – dictate they need an extra batsman.

That would see Moeen Ali move up the order to Curran’s position at No8 and Bairstow come in at five.

Bairstow was a substitute fielder for much of the final two days in Kandy, coming on for Curran.

He said: “It’s good to be out there seeing the lads doing well, obviously to win a series here for the first time in a long time. To have won it already and going into Colombo with a 2-0 scoreline with one left to play is really pleasing for the group.”

What, though, of the regular pre-match games of football? Should England be playing them and does Bairstow regret taking such a full part?

“It wasn’t a two-footed challenge or anything like that – it was very inconspicuous and it could happen at any point,” he said.

“You’ve got ropes that go around the boundaries and you see the amount of times people twist their ankles going over them.

“It just so happens it becomes a talking point because we were warming up during a game of football.”