Welsh Fire will 'adjust' after Jonny Bairstow's England recall, says Gary Kirsten
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Johnny Bairstow was a member of the England squad which won the 2019 Cricket World Cup
Head coach Gary Kirsten says Welsh Fire can cope without captain Jonny Bairstow after the wicketkeeper-batsman was recalled by England.
Bairstow will be free to play in Welsh Fire's opening two fixtures against Northern Superchargers and Southern Brave.
The 31-year-old will then enter an England squad bubble on 31 July.
"It is what it is and it's difficult to replace Jonny Bairstow as an international player," Kirsten said.
"But we certainly feel we have players that can cover for him."
Bairstow has been recalled for England's first two Tests against India next month.
He will be available for Fire's game against Northern Superchargers in Leeds on Saturday, 24 July and at home to Southern Brave the following Tuesday.
He was England's number three in the Test side at the end of the 3-1 series defeat in India this year but missed the 1-0 series loss against New Zealand in June.
The right-handed batsman is back in contention for the series opener against Virat Kohli's tourists at Trent Bridge on 4 August.
He will miss the majority of Welsh Fire's Hundred campaign but Kirsten will not yet name a new captain.
"He's designated our captain at the moment and I'm looking forward to working with him," the South African added.
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"We were anticipating he'd get a call-up and we have to adjust accordingly.
"We have prepared for that and we knew we could lose some of our key players, like every team."
Welsh Fire have already been weakened by the withdrawal of West Indies one-day captain Kieron Pollard and England batsman Ollie Pope, who are both injured.
"We have some depth in areas where we thought we might lose players," Kirsten told BBC Sport Wales.
"That's why when we were recruiting it was really important to make sure we had balance in the team.
"We know that if we get the flow and rhythm of the team going like we need to we can beat anyone because we've got enough skill in the house," added Kirsten, a former international coach with both his native South Africa and India.
Meanwhile, the franchise's sole Welsh player, Glamorgan's David Lloyd, has been passed fit for the trip to Leeds after recovering from a finger injury he picked up in Glamorgan's Vitality Blast defeat at Hampshire on Sunday.