England’s plans for next week’s final Test against South Africa and for the Twenty20 World Cup that starts next month were thrown into disarray on Friday after Jonny Bairstow slipped while walking to a tee during a round of golf near his Yorkshire home and sustained a serious leg injury that is likely to rule him out of all cricket for the remainder of the year.
The precise nature of the injury, which occurred as Bairstow played at Pannal golf club just outside Harrogate, will become clear in the coming days, but the England camp fears that full scans will confirm a fracture when they are conducted early next week.
Nottinghamshire’s Ben Duckett was immediately called up for the third Test against South Africa at the Oval, which starts next Thursday, while a replacement in the World Cup squad that had been announced only a matter of minutes before the injury occurred has not yet been decided. The deadline to submit a final squad for the tournament is 16 September.
Bairstow has been England’s player of the summer, and was due to open the batting in Australia alongside Jos Buttler after selectors decided to jettison the out-of-form Jason Roy. Though his absence is a significant blow the squad announced on Friday includes several alternative openers including Dawid Malan, who has top-scored in this year’s Hundred from the top of the order but had been pencilled in to bat at No 3 for the international side, and Phil Salt, who has opened with Buttler for Manchester Originals.
Other options include Surrey’s Will Jacks, who is in the squad travelling to Pakistan for seven T20s this month, while there will be renewed calls for Alex Hales to return to the international fold after an absence of more than three years. The 33-year-old, who opens with Malan for Trent Rockets, has had notable success in Australia in the past: he was the second-top scorer in the Big Bash League in 2019-20, and the top scorer in 2020-21.
The news could even lead to the quickest of recalls for Roy, whose miserable summer for club and country had ended with him being left out of England’s squads both for Pakistan and for the World Cup. Having established himself as one of the world’s most feared white-ball openers over an eight-year international career, Roy’s claims to a place collapsed in the space of two months this summer as he averaged 12.66 in six T20s for England, and 8.5 in six appearances in the Hundred.
“It’s unfortunate timing for Jason Roy as much as anything else. He’s hit a bad patch of form at the worst time,” said Rob Key, the managing director of England men’s cricket, who revealed that Roy had sought assurances that his international career is not over. “I certainly don’t think the age that he is that this is the end of Jason Roy. I would argue that the 50-over format is his strongest suit and we still see him as very much part of this setup.”
Chris Woakes and Mark Wood, who because of injuries have not played a T20 game of any kind since last year’s World Cup semi-final defeat to New Zealand – or made a first-team appearance in any format since March – are included in both squads having recovered from knee and elbow complaints respectively. “We’ve got to somehow make sure if they are our best options they are in rhythm and in form,” Key said. “It’s no good having them back if they’re not able to perform to the best of their ability.”
Key revealed that Hales, who had featured prominently in discussions about Buttler’s ideal opening partner, had contacted him to demand an explanation for his continued absence from England’s squads. “I much prefer when these people pick up the phone, as opposed to people who go behind the scenes moaning,” Key said. “It’s just an unfortunate time when there’s a hell of a lot of very good players.”
Of the 15-man World Cup squad only Salt, Harry Brook and Ben Stokes were not also involved in last year’s competition in the United Arab Emirates. It will be Buttler’s first tournament as captain following Eoin Morgan’s retirement from international cricket in June, and Key confirmed that he intends to keep wicket, having experimented at Manchester Originals this summer with captaining from the outfield.
England men’s T20 World Cup squad
Jos Buttler (Lancashire, capt), Moeen Ali (Worcestershire), Jonny Bairstow (Yorkshire), Harry Brook (Yorkshire), Sam Curran (Surrey), Chris Jordan (Surrey), Liam Livingstone (Lancashire), Dawid Malan (Yorkshire), Adil Rashid (Yorkshire), Phil Salt (Lancashire), Ben Stokes (Durham), Reece Topley (Surrey), David Willey (Yorkshire), Chris Woakes (Warwickshire), Mark Wood (Durham). Travelling reserves Liam Dawson (Hampshire), Richard Gleeson (Lancashire), Tymal Mills (Sussex)
England men’s T20 squad for Pakistan
Jos Buttler (Lancashire, capt), Moeen Ali (Worcestershire, vice-capt), Harry Brook (Yorkshire), Jordan Cox (Kent), Sam Curran (Surrey), Ben Duckett (Nottinghamshire), Liam Dawson (Hampshire), Richard Gleeson (Lancashire), Tom Helm (Middlesex), Will Jacks (Surrey), Dawid Malan (Yorkshire), Adil Rashid (Yorkshire), Phil Salt (Lancashire), Olly Stone (Warwickshire), Reece Topley (Surrey), David Willey (Yorkshire), Chris Woakes (Warwickshire), Luke Wood (Lancashire), Mark Wood (Durham)
A 19-man group has been named for the historic visit to Pakistan, England’s first for 17 years. Preparations have been complicated by the floods that have ravaged the country in recent weeks, but Key insisted that it was “a trip we’re desperate to go on and it’s going to take a lot for us not to get out there”.
Despite being named in the World Cup squad Chris Jordan, Liam Livingstone and the travelling reserve Tymal Mills will remain in England to continue rehabilitation work on injuries, while Stokes will rest after the end of England’s Test summer. Buttler’s calf injury will keep him out of the early matches in Pakistan – when Moeen Ali will captain the side – but will not stop him travelling.
Five players travel to Pakistan having not yet played a T20 for England, with the Kent batter Jordan Cox the youngest in the group at 21. The Warwickshire pace bowler Olly Stone, having already represented his country in Tests and ODIs, returns to the England set-up after a nightmare run of injuries during which he considered retiring from internationals at 28.
