The debate over whether Jonny Bairstow might be taken out of the firing line at Old Trafford next week never looked like much of a runner. Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum have, after all, made plainly clear which direction they expect their team to be heading when the shooting starts.
Sure enough, on Tuesday morning, England moved swiftly to nip in the bud what might have been a week of speculation, naming an unchanged squad for Manchester’s Fourth Test, with the Yorkshireman as the sole wicketkeeping option.
