Bairstow to play for Yorkshire in County Championship

Jonny Bairstow made his debut for Yorkshire in 2009

Yorkshire have confirmed England wicketkeeper-batter Jonny Bairstow will play in their County Championship game against Sussex this week.

The White Rose host the Division Two leaders at Scarborough from Thursday.

Bairstow, 34, has not featured for Yorkshire in any competition so far this year but is available after being recently dropped by England.

Yorkshire head coach Ottis Gibson suggested last week that he was hoping to be able to call on Bairstow.

“I spoke to Jonny, and he still has ambitions of getting back into the England team," Gibson told the club website.

“When he was coming back from his injury last year, our medical team and coaches, everybody associated with the club, helped him get back into the England fold.

“If it's that we need to do that again with him, give him some love and get him into a position where he puts good performances in, everybody benefits from that.

“Jonny Bairstow is a serious cricketer anyway, but when he has a point to prove he's even more dangerous."

Bairstow has made 100 Test appearances for England but was left out for the series win over West Indies and has not been selected for the upcoming games against Sri Lanka.

After a game for Welsh Fire in The Hundred last month, Bairstow told BBC Sport: "All I want to do is play for England."

Yorkshire are third in the second tier of the County Championship, with the top two winning promotion.