'Not rocket science, some cricketing sense' - Fans flabbergasted as England drop Ben Foakes for Ireland Test

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) announced the squad for the one-off Test against Ireland on Tuesday, May 16, scheduled to be played from June 1 at Lord’s. Speedster Jofra Archer has been ruled out of the entire English summer due to his recurring elbow injury while wicketkeeper Ben Foakes was surprisingly dropped to make way for star batter Jonny Bairstow.

Foakes has featured in nine of the 12 Tests England has played ever since Brendon McCullum became the head coach of the Test team in 2022 and missed two matches due to illness. The wicketkeeper-batter has an average of 38.90 and during the aforementioned period and has also affected 36 dismissals donning the gloves.

The 30-year-old also scored a magnificent 113* against South Africa at Old Trafford during the second Test of the series. However, despite his great show with both bat and the gloves, Foakes was dropped to make way for Bairstow, who is making his return to international cricket after almost nine months after he suffered a freak injury in September 2022.

Bairstow has not kept wickets for England since 2021 and played as a specialist batter throughout the English summer in 2022. The 33-year-old was seen in imperious form in 2022, where he plundered 1061 runs at an average of 66.31 and a strike rate of 76. He was the chief architect of England’s famous ‘Bazball’ play, the brand of cricket they’ve been playing ever since McCullum took charge.

The star batter has played two County Championship matches for Yorkshire making his return to the pitch last month.

It was a seriously tough decision to leave Ben Foakes out:  Rob Key

On the other hand, Foakes has had a great County season scoring 264 runs at an average of 52.80 for Surrey, including an unbeaten century against Lancashire.

“It was a seriously tough decision to leave Ben Foakes out of the squad. He has been excellent for England in the last year, but Jonny Bairstow is one of the best players in the world whose performances last summer epitomised what we are about, ” ECB managing director for men’s cricket Rob Key was quoted as saying by FoxSports.

England Test squad for Ireland Test

Ben Stokes (c), James Anderson, Jonathan Bairstow, Stuart Broad, Harry Brook, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Dan Lawrence, Jack Leach, Ollie Pope, Matthew Potts, Ollie Robinson, Joe Root, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood

Meanwhile, Twitter was abuzz with reactions on Foakes’ exclusion.

Here are some of the Tweets:

Vignesh Bharadwaj@VBharadwaj31

To say that's really harsh on Benjamin Foakes is an understatement. Not rocket science, just some cricketing sense. When will England learn? #ENGvIRE

03:11 PM · May 16, 2023

00

Barry McHale@B_Mac1878

Zak Crawley stays in and Ben Foakes dropped.

02:36 PM · May 16, 2023

12014

MATHEL@MJ_PRKR

So Ben Foakes does everything that’s asked of him, bats how England want him to bat with the tail, plays CC to get ready for England, is England’s best WK by a mile and still gets dropped for someone that’s been injured for ages and opener that can’t bat let alone open. Bollocks twitter.com/timwig/status/…

Tim Wigmore@timwig

Jonny Bairstow set to be England's first choice Test wicketkeeper this summer https://t.co/X5Tw18i9ve

03:03 AM · May 16, 2023

90356

Laura@LauraSco88

The absolute rage I’m feeling on behalf of Ben Foakes, all of England, and the reputation of our great sport in general, is palpable. IT IS NOT IMPOSSIBLE TO HAVE THEM BOTH IN THE SQUAD.

02:46 PM · May 16, 2023

20511

WG FoakesWasRobbedPants@WG_RumblePants

I much admire Jonny Bairstow but there’s no way he should be picked as England keeper ahead of Ben Foakes. He’s barely even done enough to demonstrate his form since returning from injury. We all know who the weakest link in England’s batting lineup is. It’s not Foakes! twitter.com/timwig/status/…

Tim Wigmore@timwig

Jonny Bairstow set to be England's first choice Test wicketkeeper this summer https://t.co/X5Tw18i9ve

02:25 AM · May 16, 2023

1.1K49

frank_morrish@frank_morrish

Name an unluckier cricketer than Ben Foakes. I’ll wait.

03:42 AM · May 16, 2023

333

James@Surreycricfan

Jonny Bairstow watching Ben Foakes in a Surrey shirt and trying to learn how to become a better wicketkeeper 🏏

02:20 AM · May 16, 2023

344

Himanshu Pareek@Sports_Himanshu

Ben Foakes dropped from Ashes squad as Johnny Bairstow to keep the wickets for Ashes. It's ridiculous. Ben Foakes is the best keeper currently in World Cricket while Bairstow needs to focus on batting solely since returning from an injury.

02:43 PM · May 16, 2023

594

LV= Insurance County Championship@CountyChamp

Ben Foakes catches flies. And cricket balls.🏏 🧤 #LVCountyChamp

01:00 PM · May 15, 2023

19310

The Cricketer@TheCricketerMag

"As hard as it is on Ben Foakes... you look at the potential line-up and it looks like a very, very good side with Jonny in there" ⏤ Rob Key 💬

04:36 PM · May 16, 2023

363

Surrey Strut Gnome@SurreyStrut

Am I right in thinking the man most say is the world's top keeper, Ben Foakes, has not had his deal announced by his new kit sponsor in @KookaburraCktUK? cc @WK_Union @KeeperCourt 📸 @GettyImages @LukeWalkerPhoto / Ben Hoskins

05:12 PM · May 15, 2023

102

Tom@TomMay93

Ben Foakes continuing to be treated like dirt by the ECB, absolute joke.

02:51 PM · May 16, 2023

21

England Cricket@englandcricket

✅ Fifteen players have made the cut... Go well, lads 👊

Scott Beeby@ScottBeeby1

@englandcricket Jobs for the boys!👎🏼 #BenFoakes

02:51 PM · May 16, 2023

42

Tom McCarthy@thgmccarthy

Very harsh on Ben Foakes , first wrong call this new setup has made - for one bairstow is too low batting at 7 and you've got a bloke at the top who averages below 30 after 30 tests. Thought they'd take the risk and chuck JB up there , he does it in white ball 🤷‍♂️

05:54 PM · May 16, 2023

40