"Not safe with his keeping and is rusty" - Geoffrey Boycott suggests 'unfit' Jonny Bairstow be dropped for 4th Ashes Test
Former England opening batter Geoffrey Boycott opined that Jonny Bairstow has not returned to full fitness and criticized his inclusion in the team for the 2023 Ashes series. The 82-year-old feels Bairstow needed to play some competitive cricket before playing against a big side like Australia.
Bairstow, selected ahead of Ben Foakes, has been disappointing with the gloves, dropping catches and missing stumpings, proving pivotal in all three matches. The Yorkshire cricketer has also been short of runs since his run-a-ball 78 in the first Test of the Ashes.
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In his column for The Telegraph, Boycott stated that he wouldn't have selected Bairstow until the 3rd Test as nothing is working for him due to his fitness. He wrote:
"All this stuff about picking your best keeper is rubbish but at the moment Jonny is not safe with his keeping and is rusty. That is the problem. I forecast that.
"I wouldn’t have picked him until the third Test and made him play for Yorkshire to get some competitive cricket under his belt. You can’t sustain a serious injury like that and think you can come back straightaway against a team as good as Australia."
The former Yorkshire batter observed that the 33-year-old has failed to justify his inclusion above Foakes, stating:
"When Jonny is at his best, he is a better plus for England than Ben Foakes. But at the moment, he is dropping things and not moving properly. When he is picked ahead of Foakes, his keeping has to be safe and he has to score runs. He is not doing either."
With England unlikely to interfere with the batting combination for the 4th Test, Boycott suggested that they can afford to leave Bairstow out. He continued:
"Some people may say never change a winning team. I disagree. My experience of playing at the highest level for so long and my common sense tells me that Jonny Bairstow is not fit.
"Last year, he suffered a horrific injury with a broken leg in two places and damaged ligaments. He isn't moving 100 percent right and is short of competitive batting and wicketkeeping."
The spotlight was on the keeper-batter during the 3rd Test at Headingley as it was his home ground. However, not only did Bairstow drop a few catches but he only managed 17 runs.
"England took a calculated gamble and it hasn't worked" - Geoffrey Boycott
Boycott feels that Bairstow has looked a shadow of his best and urged someone in the side to take him away from the spotlight. He wrote:
"He has been selected based on last summer's marvelous match-winning batting, but at this moment in time, he is a shadow of his best. England took a calculated gamble and it hasn't worked.
"In three Tests, he has dropped catches, missed a stumping, and can't score any runs. Someone needs to be brave for him and take him out of the limelight."
The fourth Ashes Test starts on July 19 at Old Trafford in Manchester, with Australia leading the five-Test series 2-1