England national selector Luke Wright shared that wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow was left disappointed with the management’s decision to exclude him from the upcoming series against Australia. Apart from Bairstow, Moeen Ali and Chris Jordan also dropped of the squad, while youngsters Dan Mousley and Jacob Bethell earned maiden call-ups as well.

However, Bairstow expressed his interest in playing for England across all formats on the sidelines of The Hundred 2024. But, he has lost his place in the national side. With Jamie Smith having an amazing start to his Test career, it will be tough for Bairstow to return to the red-ball setup.

“We just want him back to [being] one of the best players in the world. He understands that. He doesn’t like it. One thing Jonny will do is fight back, and I hope he does and gets himself back in the team. I’m certainly not going to write Jonny off. Jonny’s countless times when people have shown them that they’re wrong, and hopefully he shows that we’re wrong as well,” Wright told media following the squad announcement for the Australia series.

However, he has turned to County cricket on his way back into the England national team. He also played for Yorkshire in their recent win
over Sussex, where he scored a fifty in the first innings, but recorded a duck in the second game as well. One of the biggest absentees in the ODI squad was Joe Root, considering how important the five ODIs against Australia are in terms of their preparation for the 2025 Champions Trophy as well.

“Rooty has given a lot to English cricket. We’ve asked a lot of Joe over the years and we want to get as much cricket out of Joe as possible. I’m sure so do the fans want to see as much. So, there’s no reason why he can’t then come into the major tournament. Those top players are able to adapt as well as possible and I don’t think it’s as big a problem for them as it would be for some of the others. So that’s why it’s great to get that cricket into some of the younger guys,” Luke Wright concluded.