Cricket-England's Bairstow keen to reclaim test wicketkeeper's role

Jonny Bairstow says he wants to return to the England test squad for next month's home series against West Indies as the designated wicketkeeper, not a specialist batsman.

Jonny Bairstow says he wants to return to the England test squad for next month's home series against West Indies as the designated wicketkeeper, not a specialist batsman. Jos Buttler has been the preferred test stumper recently while Ben Foakes is considered technically best of the three.

Bairstow was dropped for the tour of New Zealand in November and played only one test in South Africa as a specialist batsman. "I was disappointed to lose the gloves at the time," Bairstow told British media.

"My stats were very good and I didn't feel like I had done anything wrong with my keeping. I was getting complimented highly by people on that." The 30-year-old, who was named in England's 55-man training group for the three-test series against West Indies, said he had used the time during the coronavirus shutdown to work on his batting technique.

"I'm pleased with the way my batting has been going," Bairstow said. "There have always been challenges that have been asked -- whether keeping wicket or batting in certain positions -- and I'd like to think I've risen to those challenges."

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