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Jonny Bairstow will make his comeback from a leg injury this week when he turns out for Yorkshire’s second string against Nottinghamshire, as the England batsman looks to build up his fitness ahead of the Ashes series against Australia.
Bairstow has not played since suffering a freak injury on a golf course in September, which ruled him out of the 2022 Twenty20 World Cup and test series in Pakistan and New Zealand.
“He’s had such a long layoff, so it’s a fitness assessment for him to see what his capacity is and what he can do on the field in terms (of) running around in the outfield or standing behind the stumps,” Yorkshire head coach Ottis Gibson said on Sunday.
“He will probably do both to see which one he’s most comfortable with.”
Bairstow has indicated he would like to resume wicketkeeping duties when he returns for Yorkshire, giving him another route back into the England side.
His sensational run of Test form last year, when he smashed four brilliant centuries, came as a specialist batter, but fellow Yorkshireman Harry Brook has excelled at number five since stepping up in Bairstow’s absence over the winter.
The five-Test Ashes series will begin at Edgbaston on June 16. England lost the previous edition 4-0 in Australia.
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