England's Jonny Bairstow raises his bat to the crowd as he leaves the field unbeaten on 99 on day three of the fourth Ashes Test between England and Australia at Old Trafford cricket ground in Manchester, England on 21 July 2023
England's Jonny Bairstow raises his bat to the crowd as he leaves the field unbeaten on 99 on day three of the fourth Ashes Test between England and Australia at Old Trafford cricket ground in Manchester, England on 21 July 2023
Cricket

England drop Bairstow for first two Tests against West Indies

AFPLondon

England left out Jonny Bairstow from a 14-man squad announced Sunday for the first two Tests of next month's three-match series against the West Indies, with wicketkeeping duties set to be taken over by the uncapped Jamie Smith.

There was no place in the squad either for Ben Foakes, the first-choice wicketkeeper in a Surrey team where the 23-year-old Smith is often deployed as a specialist batsman.

The first Test at Lord's starts on July 10, with the match set to be England great James Anderson's last before the 41-year-old paceman retires from the format.

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