‘My prediction is Jonny comes back stronger’ – Ed Smith on Bairstow axing
England selector Ed Smith confirmed Jonny Bairstow “hasn’t been rested” after he was left out of England’s Test squad to play New Zealand, but backed the wicket-keeper to become a “top Test match player”.
Bairstow has endured a tough time in Test match cricket with the bat, having averaged 25.91 since the start of 2018. There have been many reasons suggested for this, and while Smith didn’t offer an answer for why Bairstow has struggled, he did suggest he will have to force his way back in through weight of runs, rather than through his wicket-keeping ability.
“I wouldn’t be looking to narrow his options but I’d be looking to have a very open conversation with him,” Smith said. “I would say the primary issue which I discussed briefly with Jonny today and I’ll be discussing again when I meet up with him face to face, is getting the most out of him as a batsman.
“Currently for whatever reason it might be, whether it’s white ball, whether it’s a busy schedule, whatever it might be, whether it’s keeping wicket [we’re not getting the most out of him]. Park all that, I don’t have an explanation, but I do have an aspiration and my aspiration is that Jonny becomes a top, top Test match batsman.”
By the time the New Zealand tour starts, Bairstow will be 30 years old, and with a selection of young batsmen clamouring for selection, some have suggested the Yorkshireman concentrate on limited-overs cricket rather than try and make a success of Tests. However, Smith said Bairstow’s first-class record outside Test cricket shows he can come again at this level.
“The important thing to focus on there is Jonny was picked as a batsman for England in 2012, as the outstanding young batsman in England,” he said. “He has a non Test match first-class average of 50, which puts him alongside Joe Root; only Ollie Pope is above those two. And in the period of time that he’s been an England player, his non-Test match first-class average is 57. I think there’s a real opportunity for him to reset and focus on how he can go about becoming that really top Test match player.”
Bairstow has earned a reputation as a player who responds to setbacks well. When he was left out of England’s Test side in Sri Lanka in 2018, and then not given back the gloves when recalled, he responded by making a century in his first innings at No.3. In the Men’s Cricket World Cup too he responded to perceived media criticism and two consecutive defeats with a century against India in a pivotal game for England. The hope is that once more Bairstow digs deep to prove people wrong.
“I don’t think it’s a bad thing that every now and then people have an opportunity to reset and I think this will do Jonny good,” said Smith. “And I think it will do England good. And my prediction is he comes back stronger.”
https://www.icc-cricket.com/news/1356463
