An out of favour Jonny Bairstow has joined former teammate Liam Livingstone in criticizing the England hierarchy’s lack of concern for some players and is eager for the English board to mend fences with county cricket.
After being discarded by England last year, all-rounder Livingstone recently claimed he was left out in the cold and that the current administration didn’t give a damn about players who weren’t part of the core group.
The similar opinion was expressed by Bairstow, who participated in England’s early success under head coach Brendon McCullum and Test captain Ben Stokes but hasn’t played a Test since his 100th two years ago.
“You need the care back in the game. It is OK saying people care about things – no they don’t. If you are in the system, you are in the system. As soon as you are out of the system, you are out of the system,” Reuters quoted Bairstow, 36, telling the British media.
Rob Key will remain the managing director of England’s men’s cricket, and the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) decided to keep with McCullum and Stokes after reviewing the team’s 1-4 Ashes humiliation earlier this year.
Ollie Pope and Zak Crawley, two players who were out of form during the Ashes series, were criticized by England. Michael Vaughan and Geoffrey Boycott, two former England players, have voiced shock at what they perceive to be a lack of accountability in English cricket.
Like them, Bairstow believed that certain players had become complacent with the present configuration.
“When you become comfortable you become complacent, and when someone questions you directly you are not used to it because you are in an environment that is potentially not questioning you in a different way.”
Key has declared the creation of a “county insight group” in an effort to forge closer ties with domestic cricket.
“The question you would ask is why have they disconnected in the first place? We will see if the proof is in the pudding. I look forward to hearing a bit more about the review,” Bairstow said.
