Jonny Bairstow to open for England in first ODI with West Indies

18 September 2017 01:23

Jonny Bairstow will open for England in the first Royal London Series one-day international against West Indies at Old Trafford.

Jason Roy will therefore not regain the position he lost to Bairstow in England's Champions Trophy semi-final defeat to Pakistan in Cardiff three months ago.

Roy paid then for his loss of form over a protracted period, and after the Surrey batsman's golden duck against the Windies in Saturday's one-off Twenty20 match at Chester-le-Street on his return to England colours, captain Eoin Morgan has confirmed Bairstow instead will open in Manchester.

"Jonny is going to open with Alex Hales," said Morgan.

"We feel Jonny deserves a chance. He's been waiting in the wings for quite a while now.

"This is an opportunity to make the opening position his."

Bairstow has long been one of England's most reliable batsmen across the formats, and marked his latest return to the ODI arena with 43 at the top of the order as the hosts nonetheless bowed out of their own tournament when they lost by eight wickets to Pakistan.

As Morgan contemplated their prospects in the five-match series set to get under way at Old Trafford, he spelled out that the tourists bolstered by the returns of the previously disaffected Chris Gayle and Marlon Samuels may be a different proposition to the team beaten 3-0 by England in the Caribbean in March.

Asked if England will need to be at their best for a follow-up series win, Morgan said: "Yes, I think we will.

"They're a strong outfit, (and) obviously have some additions, changes from the Test team - so they're not a side we take lightly.

"A lot of our focus over the last couple of years has been on ourselves.

"I think to make that extra step, learning on from the Champions Trophy, this series for us is about producing consistent performances."

Source: PA