Jonny Bairstow benefiting from prolonged break as West Indies preparations ramp up

NICK FRIEND: Bairstow is hopeful of pushing his case for a Test recall in the coming weeks, having enjoyed his time away from the game on the back of a busy winter

Jonny Bairstow hopes that his game will be helped by the prolonged break he endured ahead of his return to training.

The wicketkeeper-batsman has not played since February, when he made 64 in the final T20I of England’s tour of South Africa. He was left out of the squad for the March series in Sri Lanka, which was ultimately curtailed before the two Tests had begun and was also omitted from the red-ball leg of the series defeat in New Zealand at the beginning of the winter.

Nevertheless, after spending “something like six nights at home from October until February”, he believes the delay to the start of the 2020 season caused by the coronavirus pandemic has enabled him to refresh his mind.

“I feel good,” he told journalists on Tuesday morning via Zoom. “I think everyone is going to be pretty pleased with the break. It has been well documented that the international schedule for players and I can imagine for you guys has been pretty tough.

“I think naturally in the circumstances nobody would have wanted the break – the country and the world – but from a personal point of view I’m happy I’ll have a freshness coming back into it.

“It’s been a good break to think about a lot of different things and spend a bit of time at home, with family, it’s been really good.”

He is due up in Durham later this week to begin facing bowlers as he ramps up his belated pre-season activity. Bairstow will join up with Ben Stokes, Mark Wood and Brydon Carse up at Chester-le-Street – a baptism of fiery fast bowlers with whom to continue his preparations.

Up until now, he has been batting against throwdowns at Headingley since his return – Adil Rashid and David Willey are also back in training at Yorkshire’s home ground, but they are both working with a white-ball focus in mind. Joe Root opted to carry out his one-to-one sessions at Trent Bridge, which is nearer his home, with former England coach Peter Moores.

^{Bairstow has played just one Test since last year's Ashes}

When international action returns, Bairstow is determined to push for a return to the Test side. He has not played in the longest format since England’s defeat in the first Test of the South Africa series at Centurion, where he made ten runs across two innings, while he has not kept wicket in the Test arena since the final Ashes Test of last summer at The Oval. His Test average in 2019 slumped to 18.55 – well below his career figure of 34.74.

“Red-ball cricket has been something that has been a massive part of my career,” he explained. “I am very much looking forward to being available for selection and going back into selection and going into a camp. I am pleased with how this break has gone and looking forward to however many years it may be.”

He added too that he had been disappointed to lose his wicketkeeping berth to Jos Buttler over the winter, while Ben Foakes was recalled for the Sri Lanka trip.

“I want to play,” he stressed. “I’ve always said that. Over a period of time, I’ve been really happy with my keeping. [There] was the bit at the start of my career that people questioned but people have stopped speaking about it over the last couple of years.

“Statistically, I’ve looked at the stats and my stats are very good. So there’s no reason why that isn’t an area I want to be coming back into. Similarly with my batting: I’m pleased with the way my training has been going here at Yorkshire.

“I’m not ruling anything out. I want to keep my options very much open. I’m someone who has always been positive about playing. There have always been challenges that have been asked, whether that’s been keeping wicket or batting in certain position and circumstances. I’d like to think I’ve risen to those challenges.”

As for the upcoming challenge, which comes in the shape of Jason Holder’s West Indies side, Bairstow is simply grateful for any cricket at all. What England will miss in feeding off the atmosphere of a full house – albeit behind closed doors, they will gain in having a series to take part in.

“It’s going to be something you get used to,” he said. “But at the same time there are certain places that we’ve played around the world in Test cricket that haven’t necessarily had a massive crowd as well. So, I don’t think it’ll be too dissimilar to some of those. Likewise, we’re very fortunate in home summers we get some amazing crowds and we have some amazing support. So it’s going to be a little bit different.

“Everyone is understanding of the situation we’re placed in and if you rewind six or eight weeks and people said we were going to get some cricket at the backend of the summer and it was behind closed doors and people were able to watch sport on telly I think people would have taken it.

“I don’t know if you’ve watched the golf, but I’ve been completely captivated just because there’s been live sport back on telly. Similarly, with the rugby that’s been back on in the southern hemisphere, it’s been great to see live sport back on the TV.”

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