09 May,2017 11:36 AM IST | London | AFP
England coach Trevor Bayliss admitted he faced some difficult selection decisions ahead of next month's Champions Trophy after the tournament hosts launched their preparations with a 2-0 series win at home to Ireland
Jonny Bairstow
England coach Trevor Bayliss admitted he faced some difficult selection decisions ahead of next month's Champions Trophy after the tournament hosts launched their preparations with a 2-0 series win at home to Ireland.
Test wicket-keeper Jonny Bairstow, deployed as a specialist batsman, made a blistering 72 not out as England beat Ireland by 85 runs in the second one-day international at Lord's on Sunday.
England were in danger of falling short of 300 until Bairstow, ably assisted by Yorkshire colleague Adil Rashid (39) led a charge that saw 61 runs scored in the final four overs of an eventual total of 328 for six.
Sam Billings took the gloves in both Sunday's match and England's seven-wicket win over Ireland in Bristol on Friday in place of Jos Buttler, one of several England white-ball 'regulars' who missed the series because of their Indian Premier League commitments.
But Buttler, along with all-rounders Ben Stokes and Chris Woakes will be back from the IPL when England continue their Champions Trophy build-up with a three-match campaign at home to South Africa later this month.
"We know there are sterner tests coming up, with South Africa in a couple of weeks' time and then the Champions Trophy coming up after that, but we have won well and we can't do anything more than that," Bayliss told Sky Sports.
"I think there's probably not a lot between the three keepers but the amount of runs Jonny scores, it'd be hard to leave him out," said Australian coach Bayliss.
"Every time we give him a go, he gets the job done for us."
Meanwhile Bairstow told reporters: "I'm pleased with the way I'm striking the ball and moving at the crease, and the by-product is the runs you score."
And he made it clear he wanted to get into the Champions Trophy team, with England bidding to win their first major ODI tournament.
"It's something I've been targeting -- I want to be a part of every England side going forward," said Bairstow.
"We have a heck of a lot of talent in the group, but if I put in the performances then who knows?"
