Jonny Bairstow out of South Africa Test and T20 World Cup after "freak accident" on golf course

Bairstow had been confirmed in England's T20 World Cup squad earlier on Friday, with managing director of England men's cricket Rob Key saying the Yorkshireman would open the batting

Jonny Bairstow has been ruled out of both the third Test against South Africa and the T20 World Cup after sustaining an injury playing golf.

The ECB described the incident which left Bairstow with a "lower-limb" injury as a "freak accident", which took place near Leeds on Friday.

Bairstow is understood to have slipped while walking to a tee box at Pannal Golf Club on the outskirts of Harrogate, and there are concerns of a fracture to his left leg. In an Instagram post, the batsman said he would require an operation.

He will see a specialist to get a full understanding of the extent of the problem, but is likely to be missing for the Test tour of Pakistan in the run-up to Christmas in addition to the South Africa clash and the World Cup.

^{Jonny Bairstow sustained a freak injury playing golf [Getty Images]}

Bairstow had been confirmed in England's T20 World Cup squad earlier on Friday (September 2), with managing director of England men's cricket Rob Key saying the Yorkshireman would open the batting.

Bairstow wrote on social media: "I am gutted and want to wish everyone for this week at The Oval all the best firsty, and the boys that are going to Australia for the T20 World Cup. Absolutely gutted!"

Ben Duckett has been called up to the Test squad as cover for the South Africa game, which is due to start at the Kia Oval on Thursday, September 8.

Harry Brook is highly likely to make his red-ball debut in that decisive game. He made 140 for England Lions in a non first-class game at Canterbury prior to the start of the Test series and has most recently been involved with Northern Superchargers in The Hundred.

It is a cruel twist of fate for Bairstow, who has been one of the world's best all-format batsmen over the course of the past 12 months. 

While his white-ball game has never been in question, he has found a new lease of life in the England Test side, carving out six centuries in the calendar year. No English batsman has managed more and, with four Tests still to play, he was on course to post a new record. 

England say they will name a replacement for the World Cup squad in due course. Whether or not a call is made to Alex Hales, who was again overlooked for both the World Cup squad and the touring party for the seven-match T20I series in Pakistan which precedes it, will be indicative of where the Nottinghamshire batsman stands in the minds of selectors.

"Alex Hales was mentioned when we spoke about who the best opening partner for Jos was. His name was mentioned a lot but we felt Jonny Bairstow was the man to do that in the World Cup," Key had said on Friday morning.

^{Bairstow was set to open the batting for England at the T20 World Cup [Getty Images]}

"I've said on a number of occasions that I feel Alex Hales has served his time for his misdemeanours. Now it's on form, selection and whether we feel they are the best person to go out there. At the moment we feel Jonny Bairstow is that person.

"I spoke to Alex Hales, he rang me actually, and he argued why he wasn't there and I think that's quite right too. I much prefer when these people pick up the phone and say, 'come on then, why wasn’t I there?' I've a huge amount of respect for that as opposed to people who go behind the scenes moaning about why they've not been picked.

"It's just an unfortunate time where there's a hell of a lot of very good players. People say it's a good problem to have but it's not straightforward with who you pick as a batter in this format of white-ball cricket because there’s so many good options. There's a lot of people who have also missed out who quite rightly could have said 'how come I'm not in?'"

Will Jacks, the Surrey batsman, is perhaps next in line given his fine form in both the Vitality Blast and The Hundred, and his inclusion in the squad for the Pakistan fixtures.

Alternatively, England could choose to elevate Dawid Malan from No.3 to open alongside Jos Buttler, and use Ben Stokes or Moeen Ali higher in the batting order.