Jonny Bairstow has 'huge sympathy' for Ben Foakes after England omission
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'He'll be back without a shadow of a doubt' - Bairstow on Foakes
Jonny Bairstow says he has "huge sympathy" for Ben Foakes after the wicketkeeper was dropped from the England Test squad.
Having returned from injury, Bairstow slots straight into the side to play Ireland and will take the gloves.
Foakes, 30, has been a regular behind the stumps for England in the past 12 months but was not included in the 15-man group for the Lord's Test.
"It's never a nice situation to be in," Bairstow told BBC Sport.
Bairstow and Foakes played together last summer as England began their Test revival under Ben Stokes, before the former's double leg break gave Harry Brook a chance.
The 24-year-old Yorkshireman enjoyed a remarkable winter, scoring four hundreds to take his Test average to 80.90, to cement his place in the team.
Foakes has regularly been labelled "the best wicketkeeper in the world" by Stokes and made some valuable contributions with the bat, including an unbeaten 113 against South Africa, but with Bairstow - who scored six centuries in a sublime 2022 - back, the Surrey man is the one to miss out.
"I've been in that same position previously around getting dropped so I've got a huge amount of sympathy for Ben and for anyone really who gets dropped," Bairstow added.
"He'll be back I'm sure because in the last 12 months he's been a big part of what we've been about, he's been a big part of the group. It's never an easy decision and never a position you want to be in."
Jonny Bairstow (left) has replaced Ben Foakes as England wicketkeeper ahead of the Test summer
Bairstow made his return to action in April for Yorkshire's second XI following the freak incident that led to him missing England's T20 World Cup triumph and winter tours through injury.
He has since played two County Championship games for his home county but the four-day Test against Ireland will be his first international match since August.
"It's been a pretty traumatic winter, it was a fairly serious injury," he said.
"You can imagine the ups and downs there have been through the winter. It's been my first significant injury since I've played."
He added: "There's naturally been a few [low points]. You wonder whether or not you'll be able to walk again, jog again, run again, play cricket again. Absolutely, those things do go through your mind.
"There's many different things, until you get back to playing, well, you'll know from riding your bike, if you fall off and have an injury, you think about that the first time you get on it, because you've got bad memories of doing it. You wonder, is it going to feel the same?
"It's quite funny, people have said, 'You're limping'. When there's trauma, there's going to be an adaptation to the way that your body moves or your body walks, that's just part and parcel of it. I'm not going to be running exactly the same as last year, but that's OK.
"To be back out there for the past couple of weeks at Headingley and at Durham this week has been great fun. That's how I've looked at it - it's been a lot of fun and I've missed it."
Anderson taking no risks ahead of Ashes
Fast bowler James Anderson is unlikely to feature against Ireland to ensure he is ready for the first Ashes Test at Edgbaston.
England's leading wicket-taker sustained a mild groin strain playing for Lancashire against Somerset in the County Championship last week.
"I had a scan on the second day of that game," the 40-year-old said. "It was a little groin strain. It's a 10-day recovery period, and I'm rehabbing already, running next week. It was the best result of a bad situation.
"I think I will be fit for the game [against Ireland]. Whether I play or not is probably another matter really. I definitely don't want to risk it."