Where is the gloves? Bairstow eyes Test return

Jonny Bairstow believes he can regain his role as England's Test wicketkeeper as players prepare to go head-to-head for a place in the side to face the West Indies next month.

Bairstow played all five Ashes Tests last year but was dropped for the tour of New Zealand, with England selection chief Ed Smith indicating his international future is as a specialist batsman.

He then played just one Test in South Africa in December and was left out for the tour of Sri Lanka, with glovemen Jos Buttler and Ben Foakes selected instead, before the coronavirus cut short that trip in March.

Bairstow says he wanted to play Test cricket again, and he also made clear his preferred role.  

"Over a period of time, I've been really happy with my 'keeping," Bairstow said on Tuesday.

"That was the bit at the start of my career that people questioned but people have stopped speaking about it over the last couple of years.

"I've looked at the stats and my stats are very good. So there's no reason why that isn't an area I want to be coming back into."

The son of the late former Yorkshire and England wicketkeeper David Bairstow, Jonny has been England's wicketkeeper in 48 of his 70 Tests.

However, he has averaged 18 with the bat in his past seven matches with the gloves.

Bairstow said being dropped as England's wicketkeeper had stung.

"You can only be judged on your last performances and I like to think they were good and I hope they will get me back in the side as long as I score enough runs," he said.

How England see his future could become clearer on Wednesday when Smith announces a squad slimmed down from an initial 55-man training group for next month's Tests.

Meanwhile, West Indies batsman Shai Hope is aiming to achieve a "turnaround" in his Test career now he is back in England, the scene of his greatest triumph in the five-day format.

Three years ago, Hope became the first batsman to score two hundreds in a first-class match at Headingley as his side recorded a stunning five-wicket win over the hosts in the second Test.

Yet those remain his only two centuries in 31 Tests, with Hope averaging a modest 27.23.

That contrasts with an impressive average of 52.20 from 78 one-day internationals, suggesting he is no flash in the pan, and he is eager to boost his Test figures during next month's three-match series in England.

"You're going to be hard on yourself, especially when you know that you can get something done and it's not really portraying on your stats card," said Hope.

"I just have to continue believing in myself and back my ability because I know I can get it done.

"The key is to make sure that I make use of these opportunities and do whatever I can to make the team win."

The 26-year-old Hope, who said "red ball is my favourite part of the game," struggled to explain the difference between his Test and one-day records.

"It's probably more of a mental thing," he said.  "You just get out more in Test cricket, it seems. Hopefully I can turn it around in this series and move on from there."

West Indies lost the 2017 series 2-1 but they hold the Wisden Trophy after beating England by the same scoreline in the Caribbean last year.