“Haven't seen him since the end of the last Test” - Jonny Bairstow refutes ‘ridiculous’ claims of playing golf with Ben Stokes for money

It’s been a tough couple of days for English batter and keeper Jonny Bairstow as he got injured while playing golf. Because of his unfortunate injury, Bairstow has been ruled out of the third Test against South Africa and also will miss the Pakistan tour. Most importantly, the 32-year-old will also miss the T20 World Cup in Australia next month.

Following ECB’s announcement of the same, a lot of rumours on social media suggested Bairstow was playing golf with England red-ball captain Ben Stokes and the duo had a wager going on to win a lot of money. The flamboyant batter thus now took to Instagram to clarify everything and said how he would never play golf for the sake of money.

“For reference re: the ridiculous voice note I've been sent… I've never played at Ganton… Haven't seen Ben since the end of the last Test… I was near home playing with two friends… And finally… I wouldn't play for a cheese and ham toastie, never mind anything else as I am a tight Yorkshireman,” said Bairstow in a post on his Instagram story.

Ben Duckett has replaced Jonny Bairstow in the Test squad

As Bairstow has been ruled out of the South Africa series, the English cricket board announced Ben Duckett as his replacement. Duckett will be making his return to the squad after six long years. The 27-year-old has played four Test matches for England in the past but couldn’t justify his talent.

Duckett recently featured in the warm-up game against South Africa where the southpaw smashed 145 off 168 balls. Following his brilliant innings against a good bowling line-up, Duckett has been included in the squad.

The series against South Africa is evenly poised with both the teams winning a game each. Their match at the Kennington Oval will decide the fate of this series. The final match of the series is scheduled to begin on 8th of September.