Jonny Bairstow gets chance in series shoot-out

England turn to Jonny after KP is ruled out of winner-takes-all Test match

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21 March 2013

England were readjusting again today to the prospect of life without Kevin Pietersen. His impending departure for home with an injury to his right knee will mean an unforeseen change in the team for the Third Test against New Zealand, which begins here in a few hours.

Jonny Bairstow, of Yorkshire, was named as the replacement in the batting order and he will win his sixth Test cap. But it was Pietersen who dominated proceedings at Eden Park during England’s final practice session and today’s pre-match media briefing delivered by the captain, Alastair Cook.

Pietersen attended the squad’s training today and took part in some of their fielding drills. He then sat at the back of the nets and watched his team-mates bat and bowl. His flight home was due to leave in the early morning and the condition of his knee will be assessed by a specialist soon.

Although England will be the poorer without him, it is not the first time he has been missing in his career. After playing 54 successive Tests, he missed three matches in the victorious Ashes series of 2009 with an Achilles injury and then, infamously, was dropped last August after falling out with the team management.

Restored in time for the tour of India, he had to undergo a period of so-called reintegration which according to all official enunciations has worked wonderfully. He first injured his knee before the warm-up match for the Test series but has struggled through the first two matches.

Cook said: “He’s done extremely well. It’s been great to have him back. I said at the beginning of the winter, in India, you want to be able to pick from your best squad.

“He managed to do that and he’s fitted in really well. It’s just a shame that his winter has ended a little bit early.”

If it seemed strange to the untrained eye that Pietersen was able to struggle through two Tests but is missing the crucial Third with the series level at 0-0, Cook insisted it had simply reached a point where he could play no more.

“He hasn’t been 100 per cent fit but he has put his body on the line trying to play for England,” said Cook. “That’s all you want from all your players. The scans can only tell so much. It’s got to be how the player feels as well.

“It’s getting blown a little bit out of proportion. He’s had a bit of a bad knee and it’s got progressively worse and we’ve made a decision now that he’s going home to have it looked at.”

England still hope that Pietersen may be fit for the home Tests against New Zealand starting on 16 May but given that he has been withdrawn from cricket for between six to eight weeks that seems unlikely. He will miss the Indian Premier League season with Delhi Daredevils, for whom he purports to love playing, but it seems that his salary will be insured.

For Bairstow, it represents another opportunity to establish himself as a Test batsman. Although he made a slow start last year against West Indies he has been unlucky to be continually overlooked since, as Cook conceded, he played high-class innings of 95 and 54 against South Africa in the final Test of last summer. It is asking a lot for him to come in at such short notice, Bairstow’s last innings was in a Twenty20 international on 12 February when he made eight off nine balls.

He will bat at No6 with Ian Bell and Joe Root each moving up a position in the order.

England will again start as huge favourites to win but New Zealand have gone a considerable way to silencing a growing band of critics with their performances in this series.

They entered it after a drubbing in South Africa and their new captain, Brendon McCullum, called for a competitiveness which has been provided.He said: “We are heading in the right direction and it’s a really positive thing for us. We were all hurting as much, if not more, than the fans after the South Africa Test series.”

England without Pietersen is a late fillip for the Kiwis which McCullum put like this: “He’s one of those who can take the game away from you pretty quickly so even though he wasn’t at his best in this series he was still able to make an impact in the last Test.

“From their point of view they still have some good options but they certainly aren’t Kevin Pietersen.”

Live on Sky Sports 1, 9.30, tonight

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