Jonny Bairstow will open the batting for England in the first One-day International against Windies at Manchester announced Eoin Morgan, the England captain on the eve of the match.
Today's match at Old Trafford is England’s first ODI since its ICC Champions Trophy 2017 semi final defeat in June by eventual champion Pakistan in Cardiff. That match had Jason Roy, the regular ODI opener at the time, dropped after a run of low scores, and Bairstow made 43 after being brought in at the top of the order.
Roy was out for a golden duck in Saturday’s one-off Twenty20 International against Windies at Chester-le-Street even as Bairstow, batting at No. 6, scored a 21-ball 27 in England’s 21-run defeat.
“Jonny is going to open with Alex Hales. 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,” said Morgan.
England won 3-0 in an ODI series in the Caribbean in March and was also won the Test series 2-1 on home soil against Windies prior to the start of the limited-overs matches. But neither of those contests featured the likes of Chris Gayle and Marlon Samuels, who are now back in the fold.
“They’re a strong outfit, (and) obviously have some additions, changes from the Test team – so they’re not a side we take lightly,” said Morgan. “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.”
England will return to action in Cardiff next summer when The SSE SWALEC hosts the 2nd ODI of the fivee-match series against Australia as well as the second IT20 in the Series against India. To register for priority access to tickets for this game please
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