This has not been the finest series of Jonny Bairstow’s career but it ends with a wonderful landmark: his 100th Test. He becomes only the 17th Englishman to reach triple figures, and despite that success, I feel if anything he is probably a bit underestimated.
I have always rated him as a player, from the very early days when he first broke into the Yorkshire team and started putting excellent innings together, often in difficult conditions when the ball was moving around. In my eyes he is a proper batter who can play in all formats. His form in 2022, when he scored six of his 12 Test hundreds, showed what he is capable of when he feels happy and relaxed, has the backing of a supportive dressing room, and finds the right balance between accessing the emotions that help him to motivate himself, and retaining the clarity of thought to choose the right shots and execute them.
As a coach I have to say I found working with him challenging. Not because of anything he did wrong, but we are very different people. I am quite methodical and organised, and when it comes to practice and preparation I tend to rely on routines, as a lot of top sportspeople do.
Not Jonny. I could set my clock by Alastair Cook or Ian Bell; I’d know exactly when they’d be coming down the pavilion steps ready to net because it would be the same as the previous day, and the same as the next one. With Jonny you would never quite know what he might want to do: he might want a few throws out of the hand for 10 minutes, or he might want to work with the bowling machine for an hour and a half. His method is no less valid than mine – he is just more spontaneous and instinctive. The challenge for a coach is to adapt to players and their preferences.
I remember having a chat with the batting group during a series against India at home, going through their attack and the challenges they would present. Ishant Sharma was a key player at the time, bowling big inswingers to the right-handers, and as a group we discussed methods of countering his bowling. The general consensus was that people would get over to off stump and play on the leg side but Jonny rightly wasn’t afraid to voice his own opinion, and he thought he could stay on leg stump and hit the ball through the off side even if it was swinging in.
On another occasion I was working with him in the nets, throwing a few in from round the wicket, side-arm, trying to replicate Mitchell Starc’s angle. He kept trying to drive the ball on the up, a very hard skill, and he was not having a good morning. I asked him how he was feeling and he puffed out his chest and said, “Fine.” He wanted to hit it at the top of the bounce but when the ball’s swinging and seaming that is a tough thing to do. At his best, he has always looked to take the aggressive option.
There is a common view that Jonny’s best performances have come when he has had something to prove, and he is particularly motivated by proving people who have been critical of him wrong. There is always a lot of white noise when you are in the England team, comments in the written media, on social media, from commentators on TV. Some players will avoid all of this, seeing it as a distraction.
For Jonny it is beneficial. There was a game in Sri Lanka in 2018 that I have mentioned before where he and Stuart Broad came into the side and he heard Mike Atherton refer to it as “The B Team” – obviously Mike was referring to the fact their names both begin with a B, but Jonny saw it as an insult and was livid. He scored a century on day one.
Going into this game he will be aware there has been a lot of chat about his position in the side. For me the ball is in his court – he is a brilliant short-format player, but does he still have the energy, commitment and desire to excel at Test cricket, with all its rigours and demands? There will be time after this tour ends for him to make that decision. This week, for his 100th Test, I expect him to be emotionally charged and determined to really prove himself once again. He is averaging only 21.25 in this series, but he has looked good at times and played some nice shots. I feel there’s a good innings coming.
The way he takes criticism to heart shows he is a sensitive soul, and he can sometimes come across in interviews as a bit prickly. But he has always loved people and being in company. He is the first person to go to the crowd to sign autographs and is fantastic at mixing and making friends. When you are in his company you always feel he is interested in you and that he’s got time for you.
When he first came into the England dressing room I think it took him quite some time to feel accepted and given that, his unique family circumstances, and the way he fought with great courage through an extremely serious and often underestimated injury in 2022, when he was in the form of his life, to reach this landmark is a magnificent achievement.
There have been ups and downs but he has been a very good player for England, he has shown real character, and he has won many fans around the world. If I were with him I would just want to congratulate him, to give him a hug and tell him to do his best, as he always has. Like all of his fans, I’ll watch him collect that 100th cap with great pride. This is not a time to question his place in the side, but to celebrate it.
