CHRISTCHURCH — When Jordan Cox was ruled out of England’s tour of New Zealand with the fractured thumb sustained in the Queenstown nets last weekend, it quickly became clear that neither Jonny Bairstow nor Ben Foakes were in line to replace him in the squad.

Cox was already standing in for Jamie Smith, the man who took the wicketkeeping gloves from Foakes at the start of the English summer staying at home for this tour on paternity leave.

So, who would be the replacement for the reserve? It turned out to be Durham’s Ollie Robinson, the outstanding uncapped English keeper from the previous domestic summer.

Given Foakes was deemed the wrong fit for Bazball when England made the call to drop him at the start of the summer, his name being out of the conversation for this tour was unsurprising.

But what about Bairstow, a player who embodied the brave, aggressive approach England adopted under coach Brendon McCullum and captain Ben Stokes when he struck four centuries in three Tests during the first Bazball summer of 2022?

Bairstow is still centrally contracted by England until the end of September. But his absence from the conversation of who would replace Cox on this tour was confirmation his Test career is over.

He is unlikely to ever play international white-ball cricket again either, with his last appearance for his country coming in the semi-final defeat by India at June’s T20 World Cup in the Caribbean.

On a pure sporting level, England have moved on from Bairstow, a player who turns 36 next year.

The feeling among those inside the England camp is that he has not been the same player since the freak lower leg injury that cut short his golden summer of 2022 after he slipped on a tee box playing golf.

He briefly flickered during the 2023 home Ashes series, scoring a brilliant unbeaten 99 in the fourth Test at Old Trafford, a game where England were only denied a series-levelling win by the Manchester rain.

That was his highest score in 11 Tests since coming back from that leg break, a period in which he averaged 31.11. In the year before his injury, Bairstow averaged 61 and scored six Test centuries, including the only one by an England player during the 2021-22 Ashes tour of Australia.

England’s planning towards the next Ashes series in 2025-26 was the reason why they tapped James Anderson on the shoulder at the start of this summer, hastening the 41-year-old’s retirement.

The same logic explains why Bairstow has been overlooked since the 4-1 Test series defeat in India at the end of last winter. His stunning form in 2022 came when he did not have the wicketkeeping gloves.

He came back into the team as keeper for the 2023 summer after he was overtaken as a specialist batter by the emergence of Harry Brook during his injury absence. He then reverted back to a specialist batter in England’s next series against India at the start of the year when Brook missed that tour on compassionate leave.

His form did not stack up and the only way he’d keep his place would be as a keeper, a position that he struggled to cope with physically following that horrendous injury.

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There is much sympathy for Bairstow. But he also squandered much goodwill among teammates and management thanks to his attitude.

It is understood his behaviour inside the camp during England’s shocking World Cup defence in India in 2023 did not do him any favours. He is a player who needs careful handling and when the chips are down he can be difficult to deal with.

Often combative and at his best when he has a point to prove, Bairstow’s personality became another factor in why England were happy to move on. The fact England will still be paying him for 10 months is not the problem of McCullum, more an illustration of the potential pitfalls of implementing a multi-year contract system.

Bairstow will be fondly remembered by fans and teammates. He provided some magical moments, especially during that 2022 Test summer and at the sharp end of England’s 2019 50-over World Cup win on home soil. Unfortunately, age, form and injury have caught up with him and made him surplus to requirements.