Church Crisis
The resignation of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, over historic abuse allegations is a moment of reckoning for the Church of England.
England cricketer Jonny Bairstow is eying a return into the side in the longest format and is eager to win back the wicket-keeping role in the team.
Bairstow, who is the part of the 55-member squad called for training, stated he was disappointed at the time when he was replaced behind the stumps but felt he didn’t do ‘anything wrong’ to be ousted from the line-up.
Jos Buttler was handed over the role for England’s tour of New Zealand. Bairstow, however, did make a brief return as he featured in one Test in the four-match series against South Africa in the absence of unwell Ollie Pope.
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“Over a period of time, I’ve been really happy with my keeping,” Bairstow told reporters via videoconference as per ESPNCricinfo. “That was the part of my game which, at the start of my career, people questioned.
“But people have stopped speaking about it over the last couple of years. My stats are very good. So there’s no reason why that isn’t an area I want to be coming back into.
“I was disappointed to lose the gloves at the time. My stats were very good and I didn’t feel like I had done anything wrong with my keeping. I was getting complimented highly by people on that.
“When you think about getting back in you can only be judged on your last performances and I like to think they were good. I hope they will get me back in the side as long as I score enough runs.”
Bairstow has so far featured in 70 Tests for England and scored 4030 runs including six centuries. He hasn’t been able to replicate the consistency he has shown in white-ball cricket.
“Red-ball cricket has been something that has been a massive part of my career. There is no reason why that shouldn’t be the case at this moment in time,” he said.
“There have always been challenges that have been asked, whether that’s been keeping wickets or batting in certain position and circumstances. I’d like to think I have risen to those challenges.”
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