Jonny Bairstow has credited the influence of the Indian Premier League on his blistering Test hundred at Trent Bridge.
The middle order maestro put on a brutal display of powerful hitting during the afternoon of the fifth day to help secure the five wicket win. And far from indulging in the usual tempo associated with Test cricket both he and Ben Stokes batted as if it were a white ball contest to be won as quickly as humanly possible.
Good thing then, that he had spent much of the previous two months at the IPL trying to do precisely the same thing for the Kings XI Punjab and hit the bowlers into the stands. And the Yorkshireman is very clear of the benefits for his game of playing there rather than in the county championship, and it is not simply about the £700,000 pay packet.
