Bairstow was scheduled to play for Welsh Fire, and it was anticipated that he would be accessible for the initial two or three tournaments – which include Wednesday’s season opener against league leaders Southern Brave – before joining England’s Test team to play South Africa. However, Bairstow was unable to play for Welsh Fire because he was called up to play for England in a match against South Africa. However, he has withdrawn from the series in order to get some rest in preparation for the hectic winter that lies ahead.
This winter, England is scheduled to travel to Pakistan (twice), Australia (with bilateral series be it side of the T20 World Cup), South Africa, New Zealand, and Bangladesh. England’s touring commitments are scheduled to begin just a few days after the conclusion of the final test match of the domestic summer against South Africa.
Following Ben Stokes’ decision to quit from the Northern Superchargers squad, Bairstow’s decision is a big blow to the Hundred in advance of the competition’s second season.
Although England’s limited-overs players would be available for the entirety of the Hundred season, only a select few of the country’s Test players will be playing in the tournament. Some of the others will be pulled out to perform for England Lions against South Africa in a warm-up match that will take place in Canterbury over the course of four days.
The schedule for The Hundred allows centrally-contracted Test players to participate in two or three group games as well as the knockout stages. The number of games for which these players will be available is expected to increase in 2023, when the competition will take place during a three-week window in the English summer.
Since Bairstow’s recall to the Test lineup, his workload has been nonstop, and he has surpassed everyone else in terms of the number of games he has played for England across all formats since the beginning of 2021. He did not play in either of England’s Twenty20 International matches against India but has participated in all of England’s other matches since then.
Aside from that, fast bowler Jamie Overton will be sidelined from the Hundred for the second year in a succession after sustaining injuries to both his hand and foot during Surrey’s game against Warwickshire in the County Championship. These injuries occurred during the game. Overton’s position at Manchester Originals will be filled by Paul Walter, an all-rounder from Essex.
Because of a hamstring injury, Tom Abell, the captain of Somerset, will not be able to participate in his term with Birmingham Phoenix. On the other hand, Ollie Robinson (Originals) and Rory Burns (Oval Invincibles) have been freed to play in the Royal London Cup for their respective counties.
