On the wicket-keeper debate, I’m a huge admirer of Jos Buttler, I think his batting contains the type of x-factor and skill that deserve perseverance if things aren’t quite going to plan. Each time he purposely strides out you just hope you’re about to witness an innings that very few batsman can play, and for 20 runs or so you maintain that hope but more often than not it’s brought to a premature end with a tame dismissal from a player fighting his natural instinct and trying be that orthodox Test batsman he thinks he should be.
The reality is he’s not delivering anywhere near consistently enough for a man of his ability, we have Ben Foakes who is undeniably a far superior gloveman (someone I enjoy just watching keep wicket), and also happens to be averaging over 40 in Test cricket. Yes he was below par last county season and that certainly hasn’t helped his case but surely he deserves his shot again in Test cricket.
Bairstow will come again aswell, maybe as just a batsman, but his Test average while keeping since January 2019 is 18, that doesn’t scream re-selection.
Let’s get the best gloveman back in the Test side and someone that can actually play a key role with the bat, he won’t be the swashbuckling strokemaker that both Bairstow and Buttler can be but he certainly has the capability to play a BJ Watling type role for us, and he averages just under 40 and is hugely important in tough situations for NZ.
