Jonny Bairstow’s freak golf course injury couldn’t come at a worse time for England

There could hardly be a more freakish and cruel way for Jonny Bairstow to suffer an injury that will rule him out of so much important Test and Twenty20 cricket.

Walking to the tee at the Pannal Golf Club between Leeds and Harrogate, Bairstow’s local course, would not usually be considered a hazardous way to spend a day off.

But such was the seriousness of the injury to the lower part of Bairstow’s left leg when he slipped and fell he will need an operation that will see him miss next week’s third Test against South Africa, the Twenty20 World Cup and the Test series in Pakistan.

That is a desperate blow for England’s player of the year so far, in the form of his life with four centuries in the opening four Tests of the summer and clearly relishing life as a senior and key figure in Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum’s set-up.

And it is the latest in a string of freak accidents to England players that have hardly helped their lengthy injury list. Jofra Archer once needed surgery to repair a tendon in his hand after an accident cleaning his fish tank, Zak Crawley slipped on a marble floor in India and put himself out of a Test series and Ben Foakes hurt himself slipping in the Oval dressing room. Going back, Derek Pringle once put his back out writing a letter.

This is right up there in terms of misfortune and there is no doubt it is a huge setback for England. Only yesterday Rob Key, England’s managing director, was talking of the importance of Bairstow at the top of the order in place of the dropped Jason Roy for the World Cup and calling him one of the best white-ball openers in the world.

The Yorkshireman sustained his injury in a ‘freak accident’ after slipping on the golf course

Key’s plans will be torn up now, with England calling up Ben Duckett as cover for next week’s series decider against South Africa – Harry Brook is in line for a deserved and overdue Test debut in Bairstow’s place – and having to go back to the World Cup drawing board before they have to finalise their squad for Australia by September 16.

That throws up the intriguing possibility of a recall for Alex Hales who, Key insisted yesterday, was available and welcome back in an England dressing room that had ostracised him when it became clear he had failed a test for recreational drugs in 2019.

Surrey’s Will Jacks, who just missed out on selection for the 15-man squad, is another strong option to come in and compete for a middle order place with either Dawid Malan or Phil Salt moving up to open.

England managing director Rob Key will have to go back to the drawing board after the injury

‘It’s never been an issue really as far as we are concerned,’ Key said of Hales off-field problems ahead of news breaking of Bairstow’s broken leg. ‘We were able to just talk about form. Alex rang me actually and argued about why he wasn’t in the squad. Quite right too. I much prefer people to pick up the phone and say ‘why haven’t I been picked?’ rather than moaning behind the scenes. It’s just a time when there’s a hell of a lot of good players.’

There is no like for like replacement for Bairstow among England’s three travelling World Cup reserves and, perhaps significantly, Key mentioned Hales when asked what would happen should injury necessitate a late call up.

‘If someone does get injured it might be we turn to one of the next generation coming through we are taking to Pakistan, like Will Jacks,’ said Key. ‘It might also be Alex Hales or someone like that who we know a lot about anyway.’ Little did Key know that, by the time he spoke, Bairstow was already heading for his fateful tee-time on his local course.

England batter Jonny Bairstow has been ruled out of the T20 World Cup with a lower leg injury

One opener highly unlikely to get a reprieve now is Roy even though Key was at pains yesterday to say his England career is not over despite him being left out of both the World Cup squad and the trip to Pakistan after a sustained run of dismal form.

‘It’s unfortunate timing for Jason because he’s hit a bad patch at the wrong time. He’s obviously very disappointed. I think gutted was the word he used. He just wanted to make sure this wasn’t the end and I certainly don’t think it is,’ said Key.

It is, though, the end of Bairstow’s golden run of form in the most unpredictable and unfortunate way. And a huge blow to England’s chances of beating South Africa next week and winning another World Cup next month.