Injury is Bairstow’s best hope: Morgan

England captain Eoin Morgan has played down the suggestion that the red-hot form of Jonny Bairstow could lead to a shake-up of his one-day side ahead of the ICC Champions Trophy next month.

Test keeper-batsman Bairstow, deployed as a specialist batsman in Sunday's match against Ireland, made a blistering 72 not out as England won by 85 runs at Lord's.

His performance against the Irish came after he blazed an extraordinary 174 for Yorkshire a week ago and coach Trevor Bayliss conceded on Sunday it would be hard to overlook the right-hander for the knockout tournament, which starts on June 1.

But Morgan says the return to the middle order of star players Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler, who missed the Ireland series due to the Indian Premier League, will make it near impossible for Bairstow to retain his spot in the side.

Quick Single: Bairstow's 174 sends selectors a message

When asked if an injury to a frontline player is the most likely way into the XI for Bairstow, Morgan replied: "It is looking like that at the moment, which is unfortunate for him."

With a top six of Alex Hales, Jason Roy, Joe Root, Morgan, Stokes and Buttler seemingly locked in for the Champions Trophy, Morgan was queried about the possibility of Bairstow taking the No.7 spot normally held by off-spinning allrounder Moeen Ali.

Moeen was left out for Sunday's match and watched on as Root took three wickets with his part-time off-spin, raising the prospect of Ali being left out in favour of Bairstow's more powerful batting ability.

It was a suggestion that was all but dismissed by Morgan.

Quick Single: Bairstow 'tough to leave out', says Bayliss

"To justify an out-and-out batter at seven, I'm not sure you can," the skipper said.

"The number of balls faced in that position, the spread on them is very small over the course of say 10 games.

"If he faces 40 balls in one game, is he going to face 40 balls that will win you a game? Or could your allrounder ... do the same job, get you up to a par score and then contribute more with the ball?

"It is weighing up what is more beneficial."

Morgan's comments were supported by former England captain Nasser Hussain, who said England would need as many bowling options as possible in a tournament he expects will produce some high totals.

And with only three venues being used across the three weeks, Hussain added Moeen's spin could be a dangerous weapon when the wickets deteriorate later in the tournament.

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"The only way (to fit Bairstow in the side) is if Root became the second spinner and Jonny played instead of Moeen Ali at seven, but that worries me because I think the Champions Trophy will be a high-scoring tournament," Hussain wrote in his column for The Daily Mail, adding there was "no way" Bairstow is a better keeper-batsman than Buttler in 50-over cricket.

"That means you need the extra bowler in Moeen with Root an option as a seventh bowler because if things are going pear-shaped you want as many alternatives as possible. Moeen can score quick runs at seven too.

"As we saw the last time the tournament was staged here in 2013, pitches became more worn and we ended up with England facing India in the final on a raging dust bowl more like Mumbai than Edgbaston. Moeen will come into it the more it goes on."

Bairstow's stocks have risen as Buttler has been sitting on the sidelines for Mumbai in the IPL for the past two matches.

The right-hander has made some decent scores opening the batting for Mumbai, but has been replaced by West Indian Lendl Simmons for the past two games. He will leave the IPL on Monday to join England's squad ahead of their pre-tournament three-match ODI series against South Africa.

Bairstow remains hopeful of retaining his spot in the XI next month, but added England have "a heck of a lot of talent" to choose from.

"I'm pleased with the way I'm striking the ball and moving at the crease, and the by-product is the runs you score," he said.

"(The Champions Trophy) something I've been targeting - I want to be a part of every England side going forward.

"We have a heck of a lot of talent in the group, but if I put in the performances then who knows?"

England Champions trophy squad: Eoin Morgan (c), Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow, Jake Ball, Sam Billings, Jos Buttler, Alex Hales, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes, David Willey, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood

Champions Trophy 2017 Guide

Squads: Every Champions Trophy squad named so far

Group A: Australia, New Zealand, England, Bangladesh.

Group B: India, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Pakistan.

Schedule

Warm-up matches

26 May – Australia v Sri Lanka, The Oval

27 May – Bangladesh v Pakistan, Edgbaston

28 May – India v New Zealand, The Oval

29 May – Australia v Pakistan, Edgbaston

30 May – New Zealand v Sri Lanka, Edgbaston

30 May – Bangladesh vs India, The Oval

Tournament

1 June – England v Bangladesh, The Oval (Day)

2 June – Australia v New Zealand, Edgbaston (D)

3 June – Sri Lanka v South Africa, The Oval (D)

4 June – India v Pakistan, Edgbaston (D)

5 June – Australia v Bangladesh, The Oval (D/N)

6 June – England v New Zealand, Cardiff (D)

7 June – Pakistan v South Africa, Edgbaston (D/N)

8 June – India v Sri Lanka, The Oval (D)

9 June – New Zealand v Bangladesh, Cardiff (D)

10 June – England v Australia, Edgbaston (D)

11 June – India v South Africa, The Oval (D)

12 June – Sri Lanka v Pakistan, Cardiff (D)

14 June – First semi-final (A1 v B2), Cardiff (D)

15 June – Second semi-final (A2 v B1), Edgbaston (D)

18 June – Final, The Oval (D)

19 June – Reserve day (D)