Old-school Trevor Bayliss wants his England wicketkeeper to keep first, bat second

Coach keen for glovemen to keep working behind the stumps

Trevor Bayliss (left) and Alastair Cook have plenty to discuss ahead of the Pakistan series (Getty)

The trend of the modern wicketkeeper is bat first, keep second. But - and this will be music to the ears of purists everywhere but may sound a duff note with Jonny Bairstow - Trevor Bayliss wants his gloveman to make that art his priority.

The England coach has challenged his three Bs, Jos Buttler, Bairstow and Sam Billings, to make the position behind the stumps their own by becoming so efficient that the others can’t lay a glove on them.

As it stands, Buttler has the mitts for the limited-overs teams and Bairstow for the Test side with Billings providing competition but the Aussie England coach is open to change, especially with tours to Bangladesh and India to come later in the year where skills behind the stumps will be severely tested. Bairstow had a poor series a against Sri Lanka with the gloves, but was top run-scorer so could play as a specialist batsman - but is clear that he wants to do both.

“The keepers we’ve got are young and inexperienced I suppose,” Bayliss said in the aftermath of England’s Test series victory over Sri Lanka. “They are probably batters that are wicketkeepers. I have said to the three keepers that I believe the wicketkeeper should be the best wicketkeeper that we’ve got [available] to make sure they were continuing to work hard at their keeping and improving all the time. Those three guys have certainly stepped it up in wicketkeeping practice.”

The days of an out-and-out specialist stumper, a la Jack Russell or Alan Knott, certainly feel long gone, consigned to the past by Australia’s Adam Gilchrist reinventing the position. Bairstow is a work in progress as Bayliss admits.

“Personally, I’m a believer that the wicketkeeping position is a wicketkeeping position and that if we’ve got someone who is an absolute stand-out…these days most keepers can bat to some degree, but I’m a bit old school. It’s something from a selectors’ point of view we are going to have to think pretty carefully about.”

Buttler will get the next chance to show if the practice is paying off when he keeps during the limited overs series with Sri Lanka that starts next Tuesday with an one-dayer and Bairstow will be in the field. A strange tail of two keepers but Bayliss is not concerned.

“Jonny is pretty good in the field as well. He’s enthusiastic whatever he does and I'm sure he's happy to be in the team and any opportunity given.”

Opportunity has not been given to Stuart Broad though who, despite his great Test form, still cannot break back into the limited overs set up, despite his desire to do so. “The team’s been picked on merit,” Bayliss said. “That doesn’t mean it’s the end of the [road] for him. There are bowlers in the team that have still not cemented their spot. He is there or thereabouts.

“We know what he’s capable of. He’s in the mix going forward with the Champions Trophy next year. He’s keen to play at home in the 2019 World Cup. We are aware of that. At the moment, we thought the players that have been selected deserve their opportunity.”

That includes Steven Finn who Bayliss wants to take wickets at the top of the order following the emergence of Ben Stokes and Chris Jordan into decent death bowlers during the T20 World Cup. “He’s a wicket-taker in whatever cricket he plays,” Bayliss said of Finn. “We’d like to see him taking wickets up front and through the middle. The combinations are starting to come together with the different roles but certainly Finny at the top of the order, if we can get him finding his rhythm and confidence - he can be devastating.”