Jonny Bairstow Set for Yorkshire Return

Jonny Bairstow is set to make his first appearance of the season for Yorkshire this week as the County Championship resumes following a six-week hiatus.

Since the conclusion of the 2020 season, Bairstow has only participated in two first-class matches for Yorkshire, largely due to his commitments with the England team and the IPL. This season, he has yet to play for his home county in any format, having taken a brief break from cricket after the T20 World Cup and before the start of The Hundred, where he played for Welsh Fire.

Bairstow will be back in action for Thursday's match against Sussex at Scarborough. Yorkshire currently sits just outside the top two promotion spots in Division Two, trailing second-placed Middlesex by four points with five games remaining. This week's game presents an opportunity to narrow the 27-point gap between them and league leaders Sussex. Bairstow, who lost his place in England's Test team after failing to score over 40 during their tour of India earlier this year, is also unlikely to feature in the upcoming T20I and ODI series against Australia in September. At the beginning of The Hundred, Bairstow stated that his main goal is to play for England, but he struggled for runs with Welsh Fire, managing just 123 runs and one half-century across seven innings.

Yorkshire head coach Ottis Gibson mentioned last week that Bairstow remains determined to regain his spot in the England team. He acknowledged that when Bairstow was recovering from injury last year, Yorkshire’s medical team and coaches played a significant role in helping him return to the England squad. Gibson expressed that if the club needs to support Bairstow again to help him produce strong performances, it would benefit everyone involved. He stated that Bairstow is already an exceptional cricketer, but when he has something to prove, he becomes even more formidable. Gibson hopes Yorkshire can capitalise on that motivation.

Yorkshire confirmed on Monday that Bairstow is fit to play in Scarborough after overcoming a minor shoulder issue. However, his availability for the final four games of the season has yet to be determined. Yorkshire will be without their captain, Shan Masood, who is currently with Pakistan's Test squad ahead of their series against Bangladesh.

Earlier this month, the club announced that Gibson will step down from his role at the end of the season. Yorkshire is also in the process of hiring a new director of cricket, having advertised the position earlier this summer.

Chris Silverwood, who recently parted ways with his role as Sri Lanka’s coach, has expressed interest in the head coach position at Yorkshire. In an interview with talkSPORT, he mentioned that although he hasn’t spoken to anyone about the role yet, he would be very interested, citing his deep connection with Yorkshire as his former county.