Martyn Moxon has urged Jonny Bairstow to be patient with regards to getting his England chance.
The Bradford-born Yorkshire wicketkeeper-batsman has endured a frustrating winter in India and New Zealand, playing two Test matches and three Twenty20 internationals due to selection decisions and unavailability.
He scored only 38 runs in his first four Test innings against the West Indies in England last May but bounced back superbly with 95 and 54 against South Africa at Lord’s in August.
The 23-year-old was then unfortunate to lose his place at the start of the India series in November due to Kevin Pietersen’s return to the fold.
Bairstow only played one Test in that series and one in New Zealand last month, when Ian Bell attended the birth of his child and Pietersen was injured.
He also missed the latter stages of the Twenty20 series in India before Christmas and then the one-day series in the New Year due to illness in the family.
Now back with Yorkshire, performances with the bat will help build Bairstow’s case for selection ahead of a busy 12 months, including the one-day Champions Trophy in June and then back-to-back Ashes series.
He starts by playing in the three-day friendly against Lancashire at Headingley, which starts tomorrow.
Moxon, Yorkshire’s director of professional cricket, said: “Jonny has an enormous amount of talent and ability at such a young age.
“He has got to try and make sure that he does not get too down on himself if things don’t happen straight away. He has got too much going for him not to have a long and successful international career.
“All he needs to do is concentrate on his performances for Yorkshire at the moment and the rest should look after itself.”
Bairstow’s England team-mates Joe Root and Tim Bresnan will also play against Lancashire as part of a 13-man squad.
All named players will feature at some point during the fixture. It will be Bresnan’s first appearance since surgery on his right elbow in February.
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