News about Jonny Bairstow

SPORTS AGENDA: Brighton have been shown a yellow card by referees who have complained about the standard of post-match food at the Amex this season, which they say is the worst in the Premier League. Last year refs made a series of requests, including a red card for sandwiches and fatty foods. They prefer protein - such as chicken, beef or fish - with vegetables and salad. However, sources have told Agenda food has 'fallen off a cliff' this season, with officials aghast to find cold food in Tupperware boxes.

LAWRENCE BOOTH: RIP the spirit of cricket. You had your moments and you came in handy when England moaned about the stumping of Jonny Bairstow by Alex Carey at Lord's last summer. But the sight of Matthew Potts changing a boot as England tried unsuccessfully to run down the clock and pinch a rain-ruined no-result - and a 2-2 share of the ODI series - against Australia at Bristol on Sunday confirmed the game was up. The Spirit of Cricket is now the game's answer to Monty Python's parrot: it is an ex-spirit, it has expired, it has gone to meet its maker, it is bereft of life.

HENRY CLARK AT LORD'S: An Australian wicketkeeper in the eye of the storm and public enemy No 1 at Lord's? It's not the first time we have heard that story in recent memory. The flashpoint, which overshadowed England's 186-run victory to set up a series decider in Bristol on Saturday, broke the Lord's crowd free from their deep freeze on a bitter afternoon and had shades of the infamous stumping of Jonny Bairstow by Alex Carey which left spectators at last summer's Ashes Test on this ground incandescent. This time it was Josh Inglis wearing the gloves. He claimed to have taken a clean catch down the legside off Mitchell Starc to dismiss England captain Harry Brook, on 17 at the time.

If you use Instagram, it's likely your Stories have been full of people sharing the 'Goodbye Meta AI' post. Celebrities and sports stars are among the around 600,000 people who have reposted the image, which claims to deny Meta the right to use their data to train artificial intelligence (AI) models. Actors Julianne Moore and Ashley Tisdale, as well as England cricketer Jonny Bairstow have reshared the post on Instagram Stories. But is there any truth to the post, and should you share it?

RICHARD GIBSON: Such has been the impact of Jamie Smith either side of the stumps during a maiden summer of Test cricket that the one area for improvement on his end-of-term report is his use of technology. The selection of Smith, 24, ahead of established international wicketkeepers Jonny Bairstow and Ben Foakes caused a stir two months ago, but he already has a Test hundred under his belt, averages 48.7 in six appearances with the bat and a tough day one stumping against Sri Lanka at Old Trafford aside, has not fluffed a chance with the gloves. However, he concedes that his input as the captain's go-to man on DRS calls needs to be sharper. Against the Sri Lankans, Ollie Pope made 10 challenges to umpires' decisions while deputising for Ben Stokes, failing on each occasion.

Gus Atkinson continued his bright start to his career with a maiden century as England dominated day two of the second Test against Sri Lanka. After taking 12 wickets on debut against West Indies on this ground last month, he became the first England number eight to make a Test ton in 11 years. The 26-year-old, playing only his fifth Test, needed 22 deliveries on Friday morning to move from an overnight 74 to his first century in professional cricket.

Sky Sports were forced to bring their deadline day coverage outside of Stamford Bridge to a halt after a well known prankster walked up to the camera with a sex toy.  The stunt, which has gone viral on social media, took place as reporter Kaveh Solhekol delivered updates on Chelsea's potential business before the window shuts.  

LAWRENCE BOOTH: Olly Stone has suffered four stress fractures of the back, damaged a ligament celebrating a wicket, broken a finger playing 2nd XI county cricket, and missed last summer's Ashes with hamstring trouble. And when he makes his return to the Test team against Sri Lanka at Lord's on Thursday after a three-year absence, he will do so with two screws in his spine, inserted just over the road at Wellington Hospital back in 2021. When Stone - who will be the fastest bowler on show this week after Mark Wood was ruled out with the thigh injury sustained during England's win in Manchester - refers to 'dark times', he knows what he is talking about.

LAWRENCE BOOTH AT LORDS: England have challenged Jonny Bairstow to regain the form and fitness that made him one of the game's most destructive players before he broke his leg on the golf course two years ago. National selector Luke Wright said the 34-year-old Bairstow - who has already been dropped from the Test team after a mediocre tour of India - was 'hugely disappointed' by his omission from the white-ball squads for next month's series against Australia, but insisted his England career was not over.

The England careers of Moeen Ali and possibly Jonny Bairstow look to be over after they were left out of new-look white-ball squads to take on Australia next month. There is no place either for Chris Woakes - a third member of England's 2019 World Cup-winning squad - or Chris Jordan, while Liam Livingstone has been dropped from the ODI party, and Joe Root rested. Instead, captain Jos Buttler and interim white-ball coach Marcus Trescothick have turned to youth, with the T20 selections including the Warwickshire duo of all-rounder Jacob Bethell and batsman Dan Mousley, aged 20 and 23 respectively, and 20-year-old Leicestershire left-arm seamer Josh Hull - the day after he was drafted into the Test set-up.

It's not even two years since Ben Duckett returned to Test cricket, hoping - perhaps even praying - that his second crack would go better than his first. Now, he is not only a top-order fixture: he is one of the team's most unapologetic spokesmen, barely pausing when asked why England's Bazballers - after 17 often thrilling wins in 26 Tests - still attract criticism. 'In the world we live in, some people can never be happy, and can never make positive comments,' he says. 'They're always looking to dig and criticise the way anyone plays.

There are two boosts for tonight's clash between London Spirit and Welsh Fire. The first boost requires the Sprit to win, have the highest opening partnership and hit the most sixes. The odds for that particular bet have been enhanced from 3/1 to 7/2. The Spirit had the highest opening partnership and hit the most sixes in their loss to Birmingham Phoenix last time out. Meanwhile, the second boost is for Jonny Bairstow, Shimron Hetmyer and Andre Russell to each hit two or more sixes at 14/1. Regarding the above boost - Bairstow, Hetmyer and Russell have combined to hit seven sixes across their opening two games this season.

Oval Invincibles and Welsh Fire kicked off their Hundred campaigns with victories - as the former dominated the Birmingham Phoenix by eight wickets, while the latter also got up by eight wickets against the Manchester Originals.  Given their dominant showings in their respective openers - it's easy to see why there's so much anticipation surrounding their match-up on Sunday. Despite being at home, the Fire are slight outsiders at 11/10, while the visitors are 8/11 to remain unbeaten.

RICHARD GIBSON AT EDGBASTON: This might have been Blue For Bob day, but it was not a good one for young Bluey. As Jamie Smith belted the ball around Birmingham, it was hard to envisage how there will ever be a way back for Jonny Bairstow now. Yesterday, Surrey wicketkeeper Smith played the kind of innings to justify his selection ahead of both Bairstow - man of the inaugural summer of Bazball - and his county colleague Ben Foakes for this series and beyond.

Sky Bet are offering two Price Boosts as Manchester Originals and Welsh Fire clash in The Hundred at Old Trafford tonight. The first boost we will be taking a look at requires Manchester Originals to win, have the highest opening partnership and hit the most sixes. The odds for that particular bet have been enhanced from 4/1 to 5/1. Meanwhile, the second price boost available is for Phil Salt to score the most runs for Manchester Originals, and Jonny Bairstow to score the most runs for the Welsh Fire at 16/1.

LAWRENCE BOOTH AT TRENT BRIDGE: England exerted control on Day Three of their second Test against West Indies as they closed out play 248/3 during their second innings at the crease. Mail Sport's LAWRENCE BOOTH provides Top Spin at the Test on Day Three at Trent Bridge.

LAWRENCE BOOTH: England embark on life after Jimmy Anderson on Thursday, with skipper Ben Stokes reluctant to explain the decision to usher him into retirement for fear of sounding 'ageist'. The second Test against West Indies at Trent Bridge will instead provide Chris Woakes with the chance to lead the attack on his 50th appearance, and confirm the selectors were right to stick with him while dispensing with Anderson.

EXCLUSIVE BY RICHARD GIBSON: Jamie Smith is one of three uncapped players identified for roles when England begin their Twenty20 rebuild against Australia later this summer. England's new Test wicketkeeper Smith, 24, is set to be joined in the three-match series against the Australians from September 11-15 by his Surrey team-mate Jamie Overton and Warwickshire's 20-year-old Jacob Bethell. Rob Key, the ECB's managing director of men's cricket, is yet to carry out a full review of a mid-season World Cup that saw England reach the semi-finals, but defeat only one Test playing nation in the process.

PAUL NEWMAN: Cricket is a very different game now to the one I started covering as a correspondent for Mail Sport and it is one I leave, after more than 17 years, in a more precarious state than ever. Michael Atherton tells how, in early 2008, he warned a group of journalists that if the IPL was not checked by administrators, it would rapidly become the dominant force in the game. How they all scoffed. Well, most of them. I was in that bar in Dunedin during England's tour of New Zealand and, as I remember it, was pretty much the only voice in agreement with Athers who, then as now, is one of the best thinkers on our great game.

The incident led to hostility between the two teams, with England and their fans furious with Australia's alleged lack of sporting integrity.

England will begin their long build-up to the 2025-26 Ashes this month with a new-look Test team that marks a clear break from the first phase of Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes's Bazball project. The announcement of a 14-man squad for the first two Tests against West Indies, starting at Lord's on July 10, confirmed what had long been obvious: Jonny Bairstow's 100-Test career is over, and possibly his entire England career too. The decision to hand the gloves to debutant Jamie Smith, meanwhile, is bad news for his Surrey team-mate Ben Foakes, who at the age of 31 may struggle to add to his 25 caps, despite his ability behind the stumps. The long-running Bairstow v Foakes debate is over.

RICHARD GIBSON: Jimmy Anderson's farewell to international cricket will coincide with new beginnings for England's Test team following the decision to turn to the uncapped Jamie Smith behind the stumps. Anderson, who will win his 188th and final Test cap three weeks shy of his 42nd birthday, will be joined in the XI to face West Indies at Lord's from July 10 by Smith - chosen as wicketkeeper ahead of his Surrey team-mate Ben Foakes. England have opted to select a player that does not even keep wicket for his county in four-day cricket after spending the first two years of the Bazball era switching between Foakes and Jonny Bairstow for the role.

England are to end their great wicketkeeping debate by handing the gloves to the uncapped Jamie Smith for the first Test against West Indies. Throughout the Bazball era, it has been a battle between Jonny Bairstow and Ben Foakes behind the stumps, but the selectors have plumped for Foakes' Surrey colleague Smith. Mail Sport revealed in April that the selectors were mulling over axing both 30-somethings from the Test squad and that Smith, who averages 50 in Division One of the County Championship and has struck a competition high 24 sixes in the Vitality Blast, was the next cab off the rank ahead of white-ball international Phil Salt and Ollie Robinson, of Durham - two others who play their shots.

LAWENCE BOOTH AT THE GUYANA NATIONAL STADIUM: The early damage was done by left-arm spinner Axar Patel, who with his first ball removed Buttler, toe-ending a reverse sweep, then adding Jonny Bairstow and Moeen Ali, who may both have featured in international cricket for the last time. In between, the incomparable Jasprit Bumrah rearranged Phil Salt's leg stump. The chase was over almost before it had begun.