Why England won’t change their wicketkeeper in the Ashes

Anyone who thinks England will do anything other than rally round Jonny Bairstow and give him their full backing following defeat in the first Ashes Test at Edgbaston has not been paying attention for the past year or so.

Ever since Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes came together as coach and captain last summer, they have been steadfast in support of their players.

Even Alex Lees, the opener who was dropped before last winter’s tour of Pakistan, got a run in the team for the entire summer before he was discarded.

So talk, albeit mainly only on social media, of Ben Foakes being summoned ahead of next week’s second Test at Lord’s is way off the mark.

No doubt the call to drop Foakes at the start of the summer in order to fit Bairstow back into the team as wicketkeeper was harsh. Foakes has been brilliant for England behind the stumps and averages close to 40 with the bat under the Bazball regime.

Yet the decision, like it or not, was made and McCullum and Stokes are not going to go back on it after one defeat, even if Bairstow’s mistakes contributed to the result.

The focus has been on Bairstow’s missed stumping of Cameron Green and twice dropping Alex Carey in Australia’s first innings, costly but not enough for him to be used as a scapegoat.

Yes, Foakes has been in good form for Surrey, hitting a fine century as the county champions chased down a remarkable 501 against Kent last week. But there’s no way he’s getting back in England’s team anytime soon unless there is an injury to one of the top six batters or Bairstow.

You could argue that dropping Ben Duckett, whose performance at Edgbaston suggests he will struggle against this Australian bowling attack, and promoting Ollie Pope to opener might be the way to fit Foakes back into the team.

But it’s not going to happen, whatever the online “Foakes Ultras” say. McCullum and Stokes would not go back on such a big decision so soon – to do so would smack of panic and go against the very fabric of the Bazball philosophy.