Bairstow and Root just the ticket for England

Jonny Bairstow, his county colleague, is not expected to feature in the first Test in Dunedin, with Compton set to remain Alastair Cook’s opening partner and Root to retain his position at No 6.

It is safe and steady stuff from the England management, which has rightly been loyal to the burgeoning Root but surely short-sighted in Bairstow’s case.

For it is not the three-Test series against New Zealand that is important but the bigger picture, which means back-to-back Ashes series later in the year in which Bairstow is more likely than Compton to flourish.

This column has nothing whatever against the commendable Compton, who had an outstanding season in England last year.

In figures more redolent of his famous grandfather, the incomparable Denis, the 29-year-old came within a whisker of scoring 1,000 runs by the end of May and finished with the grand total of 1,494 at an average of 99.60.

However, Compton did not pull up trees in the Test series in India prior to Christmas, where he won the vote to open ahead of Root.

Indeed, apart from an innings of 57 in the third Test in Kolkata, Compton’s scores fell firmly into National Lottery territory – 9, 37, 29, 30*, 9, 3 and 34.

Equally, these pages have made no secret of their admiration for the blossoming Bairstow, potentially the closest thing England have to another Kevin Pietersen in terms of his ability to destroy an attack.

Bairstow had a somewhat torrid start to his Test career against the West Indies last summer, when he was accused, unfairly in my view, of having problems with the short ball, as opposed to simply having difficulties that any batsman might experience when encountering someone of the pace of Kemar Roach.

The real Bairstow, the one Yorkshire supporters have watched flower in recent years, came to the fore against South Africa at Lord’s, where he made 95 and 54 against one of the best pace bowling attacks of modern times.

Bairstow rose to the challenge in Pietersen-esque fashion in a performance that marked him down as an exceptional talent.

For all Compton’s class and credentials, I would rather see Root and Bairstow taking on Australia.

Root should open with Cook and Bairstow slot into the middle-order, with a view to a long-term position at No 4.

If that is tough luck on Compton, it is because international cricket is a tough business and because the bigger picture has to be paramount.

Far better to give Root the experience of opening in New Zealand, and to reintegrate Bairstow, than to be forced into an embarrassing U-turn further down the line.

Of course, the counter-argument is that Compton may flourish in New Zealand and fill his boots.

Indeed, his scores could well begin to look more like raffle numbers than Lottery figures.

But the problem for England is that cheap runs in New Zealand will count for little in the cauldron of an Ashes battle.

Although Australia may be struggling at present, with their bowling having been shown up on the flat pitches of India, there is a world of difference between facing New Zealand’s powder-puff attack and trying to negotiate Mitchell Starc in an Ashes contest.

Although Flower and his selectors have done a splendid job in recent years, not least in blooding the likes of Root and Bairstow in the first place, one still detects a slight reluctance when it comes to giving a talent like Bairstow its head.

There was a similar hesitancy, you may remember, when Pietersen first burst on the international scene, a period when the England hierarchy seemed to take time to cotton on to what seemed obvious to everyone who watched county cricket day-in, day-out – namely, that Pietersen was a cut above the norm.

Bairstow’s credentials may be less clear-cut, but he and Root are very much the future.

A brief word on Root.

Andy Flower, the England team director, might be reluctant to play Bairstow at present, but he was surely correct yesterday when he cautioned against the hype surrounding Root’s international baptism.

The 22-year-old has made an excellent start, but it is worth pointing out that it is only a start and that he, too, is just making his way.

At some point there will be a dip, just as there has already been a dip in Bairstow’s case.

That is understandable, and the skill is not simply in identifying young players, but having the courage to stick with them, which is why England are only getting it half right when it comes to their promising young Yorkshiremen.