Bairstow ready to make the most of Test call

MARTYN MOXON is backing Jonny Bairstow to grab his second chance at Test level with both hands after the Yorkshireman was handed a dramatic recall following England’s controversial decision to drop Kevin Pietersen.

Bairstow has been recalled for Thursday’s third and final Test against South Africa at Lord’s after Pietersen was axed due to text messages he purportedly sent to South Africa players during the Headingley Test which allegedly criticised his England employers.

Bairstow himself had been dropped at the start of the South Africa series after managing only 38 runs in three Tests against the West Indies earlier this summer.

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But the brouhaha surrounding Pietersen, allied to Ravi Bopara’s unavailability due to personal reasons, has handed Bairstow an unexpected opportunity to reignite his international career, with the 22-year-old having pressed his claims last week with a century for the England Lions team against Australia A.

Moxon, who has watched the young batsman/wicketkeeper develop into one of the game’s hottest properties, feels Bairstow will be in a mood to prove his doubters wrong.

“Since he’s been left out of the England team, Jonny has got a couple of hundreds and got his form back,” said Moxon, the county’s director of cricket.

“Hopefully, he can now take his chance and show the few critics he’s got that he’s an international player.”

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Moxon said he fully supported England’s decision to ditch 
Pietersen.

“I think it’s a very good and strong decision by the England management because you can’t have one player dictating terms and nobody is bigger than the team,” he added.

“I just think the whole episode is very disappointing because, for such a quality player, it’s very sad that it has come to this.”

Pietersen’s England future is now in serious doubt after he was omitted for a Test which England must win to prevent South Africa taking their No.1 crown.

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However, the player last night insisted his international career is not over.

“This entire episode has been demoralising for me and my family,” said Pietersen in a statement.

“However, none of this constitutes the end of my career as an international cricketer.”

England delayed naming their squad by several hours yesterday to give Pietersen the chance to confirm publicly he had not sent the text messages, which were purportedly critical of England team director Andy Flower and captain Andrew Strauss.

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Hugh Morris, managing director of England Cricket, said the selectors acted after no such assurance was forthcoming.

“During the past week we have held several discussions with Kevin Pietersen and his advisers,” said Morris.

“Following a constructive meeting, it was agreed that a number of actions needed to be completed to re-engage Kevin within the England dressing room.

“A fundamental item was to confirm publicly that no derogatory texts had been sent by Kevin to the South African team.

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“This has not been forthcoming, despite clear timelines being set to allow the selectors to pick the squad for the third Investec Test match.

“We provided an additional six hours this morning to provide every opportunity for agreement to be reached, but regrettably this has not been possible.”

The Pietersen furore follows an extraordinary few days since the game at Headingley, where he played arguably his greatest innings.

The 32-year-old hit a brilliant 149 – a performance which won him the man-of-the-match award.

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But he left Leeds under a cloud following a bizarre post-match press conference in which he hinted at dressing-room unrest and refused to give assurances that the Lord’s Test would not be his last.

It subsequently emerged that Pietersen was upset by a parody account entitled “KP Genius” on the social networking site Twitter.

There were suggestions that one of his team-mates – some of whom followed the feed which has since closed down – were behind the comments, which poked fun at Pietersen’s personality and behaviour.

But the revelation that Pietersen apparently sent derogatory texts in the thick of such a high-profile series is the straw that has broken the camel’s back.

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The decision to drop him comes despite the player having made clear in an interview broadcast to millions on YouTube on Saturday night that he had seen the error of his ways and that he was prepared to commit to England in all forms of the game.

However, it apparently came too late to convince his employers that they could trust him for such an important match.

“The success of the England team has been built on a unity of purpose and trust,” added Morris.

“While we have made every attempt to find a solution to enable Kevin to be selected, we have sadly had to conclude that – in the best interest of the team – he will miss the Lord’s Test.”

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One man’s pain is another man’s gain, however, and Bairstow is back despite concerns earlier in the summer that he was having problems with the short delivery.

But the player reacted superbly to his omission from the opening Test against South Africa at the Oval, scoring a hundred for Yorkshire in a County Championship match against Leicestershire before a timely 139 for the Lions last week.

Commenting on the England squad, National Selector Geoff Miller said: “We need a squad fully focused on this Test match to be able to play the sort of cricket we know is necessary if we are to win this week and level the series.

“The second Investec Test was a marked improvement on our performance at the start of the series, but we are aware we will need to play some very good cricket this week if we are to level this series.

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“While there were positives to take from a number of areas at Headingley, we know we will need to show further improvement if we are to win at Lord’s.

“There is plenty of international experience among this squad, and they will all be determined to play to their full potential this week at Lord’s.”