JONNY’S Bairstow omission from England’s first-choice ODI XI, despite his fine form, is proof of the side’s current strength according to former England batsman Ian Bell.

Bairstow has been used sparingly in England’s ODI set-up with just 25 appearances since he debut in 2011, although he did contribute 82 runs without losing his wicket in the two-game series against Ireland this year.

In Test and first-class cricket he has been the form man, however, after scoring more test runs in a year in 2016 than any wicketkeeper in history.

The Yorkshireman scored five test centuries in 2016, and already has one in the County Championship this season.

But with England captain Eoin Morgan and coach Trevor Bayliss unlikely to find a place for him in their XI to begin the Champions Trophy, Bell highlighted the strength in depth England currently boast.

“It’s a good sign that he has been left out. You always look at the guys who aren’t playing to see how strong a squad is, so if he’s not playing there must be some pretty good players, playing ahead of him,” said the five-time Ashes winning batsman.

“He is at the top of his game at the minute as we’ve seen in Test cricket.

“You can only play 11, but he has just got to keep doing what he’s doing, and if that chance comes then hopefully he can take it with both hands.”

Jos Buttler is likely to be the man in possession of the keeping gloves for England’s first match against Bangladesh at The Oval on June 1.

And with Sam Billings also a capable gloveman and Morgan keen to have a genuine spin option to utilise alongside Joe Root and Moeen Ali, it becomes easier to see why Bairstow has struggled to force his way into the side.

“At the minute we’re in a very good position for wicketkeeper batsmen, particularly in white ball cricket, we have lots of guys who can keep, which is very good for us going forwards,” added Bell.

“And especially in a tournament, if there are any injuries then it’s a very good place to be – so if Jonny gets a chance then he’ll be there to take it.

“But in white ball cricket we’ve got a lot of players knocking on the door.”

* THE ICC Champions Trophy, from June 1-18, will see the best eight ODI teams in the world play in Birmingham, Cardiff and London. Tickets available at icc-cricket.com/tickets