Wicketkeeper Jamie Smith to make England Test debut against West Indies next month after getting the nod ahead of Surrey team-mate Ben Foakes and Jonny Bairstow

England must end their great wicketkeeping debate by handing the gloves to uncapped Jamie Smith for the first Test against the West Indies.

Throughout the Bazball era it has been a battle between Jonny Bairstow and Ben Foakes behind the stumps, but the selectors have opted for Foakes’ Surrey colleague Smith.

Mail Sport announced in April that the selection committee was considering dropping both 30-somethings from the Test squad and that Smith, who averages 50 points in Division 1 of the County Championship and has hit six points in the Vitality Blast 24 times, will be next in the row, ahead of international Phil Salt and Ollie Robinson from Durham – two others who can also bat well.

Smith, 23, is expected to be joined in the 14-man squad named for the first two matches of the Test summer on Sunday by another Nottinghamshire newcomer, Dillon Pennington, who has taken 29 top-flight wickets since moving from Worcestershire last winter.

At Jimmy Anderson’s international farewell party at Lord’s, the composition of the rest of the attack was to some extent determined by unavailability.

He has been selected ahead of Surrey teammate Ben Foakes (pictured in April this year)

With Brydon Carse serving a ban for historical betting, and Josh Tongue and Jamie Overton injured, it has Pennington plus Surrey’s Gus Atkinson, who has played in the white ball but has not yet made a Test appearance, plus Sam Cook from Essex in depicted. .

The latter, however, is struggling with a hamstring problem and will not feature until the third Test at Trent Bridge.

The decision to move on from Bairstow, who became the 17th Englishman to win 100 Test caps in his most recent appearance against India in March, has the potential – as he turns 35 later this year – to end his Test career.

However, the Yorkshireman has made a habit of proving people wrong, not least in 2022 when he responded to losing the wicketkeeping job to Foakes by scoring six of his 12 Test hundreds.

It now appears unclear whether Jonny Bairstow will play international test cricket again

The first Test against the West Indies will be Jimmy Anderson’s last Lord’s international outing

Foakes, 31, is widely recognised as the best gloveman in world cricket, but he averages just 29 and a lack of acceleration in his batting became a problem when he was left stranded on the subcontinent.

The timing of Smith’s introduction to Ben Stokes’ team is also telling. The home matches against the West Indies and Sri Lanka will allow a period of preparation for the tough tours to Pakistan and New Zealand later this year.