Jonny Bairstow: Handed opening role
Jonny Bairstow: Handed opening role

England v West Indies: Jonny Bairstow replaces Jason Roy as opener at Old Trafford


Jonny Bairstow has replaced Jason Roy at the top of the order for England's first ODI against the West Indies at Old Trafford.

Roy paid the price for his golden duck against the Windies in Saturday's one-off Twenty20 match at Chester-le-Street, captain Eoin Morgan confirming Bairstow instead will open in Manchester.

"Jonny is going to open with Alex Hales," said Morgan on Monday.

"We feel Jonny deserves a chance. He's been waiting in the wings for quite a while now.

"This is an opportunity to make the opening position his."

Bairstow, who is 5/1 with Sky Bet to top score for England in the opener, has long been one of the hosts most reliable batsmen across the formats, and marked his latest return to the ODI arena with 43 at the top of the order when they lost by eight wickets to Pakistan in the Champions Trophy.

As Morgan contemplated their prospects in the five-match series set to get under way at Old Trafford, he spelled out that the tourists bolstered by the returns of the previously disaffected Chris Gayle and Marlon Samuels may be a different proposition to the team beaten 3-0 by England in the Caribbean in March.

Asked if England will need to be at their best for a follow-up series win, Morgan said: "Yes, I think we will.

"They're a strong outfit, (and) obviously have some additions, changes from the Test team - so they're not a side we take lightly.

"A lot of our focus over the last couple of years has been on ourselves.

"I think to make that extra step, learning on from the Champions Trophy, this series for us is about producing consistent performances."

England (possible): EJG Morgan (Captain), AD Hales, JM Bairstow, JE Root, BA Stokes, JC Buttler (wkt), MM Ali, CR Woakes, AU Rashid, LE PLunkett, JT Ball

West Indies (possible): J Holder (Captain), C Gayle, E Lewis, S Hope (wkt), M Samuels, J Mohamed, A Nurse, R Powell, J Taylor, K Williams, A Joseph

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