The Jonny Bairstow thread

Suleiman

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Feel like Joe Root, Ben Stokes, Alastair Cook, and Moeen Ali get all the plaudits and good ol' Jonny here has slipped under the radar.

Saw his 100 the other day, and while it was a pathetic total to chase really liked how he went about his business.

Looks like a good counterfoil to Hales at the top as Jonny plays more risk free cricket and seems to have a penchant of picking the gaps.

Where do you guys rate him as an all format batsman? More interested in opinions on his batting than his keeping, don't think he has much competition there.

I personally think him and Buttler should both be in the team, both add a different dimension to this England unit.

I have a strong hunch Jonny will be one of the players to watch in the 2019 WC, his game has been improving for a while.
 
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Worth noting his keeping has come on immensely in the last couple of years whilst even without the gloves he's still a world class fielder.
 
Fantastic batsman and agree with you that both him and Buttler should be in the XI.
 
Not yet. Joe Root's ODI stats are excellent, Bairstow just got his first century

For that to happen he has to score against sa when its swinging and score in all 3 formats . I Dont think its going to happen because he is a keeper
 
For that to happen he has to score against sa when its swinging and score in all 3 formats . I Dont think its going to happen because he is a keeper

He is a keeper but he has a solid technique. He's right up there with QdK and MS as one of the best keeper bats rn.
 
He should be batting higher up the order in tests. Just 3 hundreds out of 50 tests is ridiculous decrement to your capabilities. Can give up gloves because his batting is under-utilized in longer format.Should bat at no less than 5 ahead of Stokes and Moen.

In odis, he is good but haven't seen much of him there in that very format.
 
He should be batting higher up the order in tests. Just 3 hundreds out of 50 tests is ridiculous decrement to your capabilities. Can give up gloves because his batting is under-utilized in longer format.Should bat at no less than 5 ahead of Stokes and Moen.

In odis, he is good but haven't seen much of him there in that very format.

45 tests to be specific not 50 but 3 out of 45 is still very poor.Shows he is under utilized and should bat higher while giving up gloves. Can take his test average to 45-50 anywhere.
 
Good player

Englands best after Root and stokes

He played pretty well in test cricket so far and in odi's he's underutilized

Seems to be a very busy player in shorter formats so can be very effective
 
He's a brilliant batsman who's scored in tough conditions. When everyone else dailed on a greentop at Lord's vs South Africa and on a slow, dry track in Cardiff vs Pakistan - he was the one who stood up.

I'd give the gloves to Foakes so he can focus on his batting, he's wasted at 7.
 
He's a brilliant batsman who's scored in tough conditions. When everyone else dailed on a greentop at Lord's vs South Africa and on a slow, dry track in Cardiff vs Pakistan - he was the one who stood up.

I'd give the gloves to Foakes so he can focus on his batting, he's wasted at 7.


Concur. Make him the #5, there is a torrent of test runs in him, and keep him opening in ODIs.
 
He is really underrated; I think this is because he bats down low. He is so consistent; he rarely just gives his wicket away. I remember when I was at Lords last year for the 1st test match and when he was batting in the second innings I was starting to get nervous that he would win it for England. Showed a lot of fight there, and he can also play aggressive innings like that innings against India in England or in that decider against New Zealand. I'd say he's a better batsman than Stokes.
 
He is really underrated; I think this is because he bats down low. He is so consistent; he rarely just gives his wicket away. I remember when I was at Lords last year for the 1st test match and when he was batting in the second innings I was starting to get nervous that he would win it for England. Showed a lot of fight there, and he can also play aggressive innings like that innings against India in England or in that decider against New Zealand. I'd say he's a better batsman than Stokes.

He is definitely a better batsmen than Stokes.I dont think that is questionable.
 
I'm not so sure he is better than Stokes - the Durham man is improving all the time. I think England have got someone potentially close to Kallis. I record he will average 45 with the bat and around 30 with the ball. Depends which discipline he concentrates on.
 
I'm not so sure he is better than Stokes - the Durham man is improving all the time. I think England have got someone potentially close to Kallis. I record he will average 45 with the bat and around 30 with the ball. Depends which discipline he concentrates on.

Stokes isnt anywhere consistent enough to average 45. Gets out at cheap scores a lot unlike Bairstow who is very consistent with bat batting down the order. As a batter, he will score some important runs time and time but being a guy who could average 45 for a long time even if he concentrates a bit more on batting,I don't see that in Stokes.
 
Stokes is learning more about test batting with every series. He doesn't know how good he is yet. He is starting to dig in during the tough patches when the bowlers are on top, not just try to blast his way out of trouble.
 
I'm not so sure he is better than Stokes - the Durham man is improving all the time. I think England have got someone potentially close to Kallis. I record he will average 45 with the bat and around 30 with the ball. Depends which discipline he concentrates on.

If he does that he will surpass Kallis eventually. Has more talent with the bat and ball. I agree with you though.

I think QdK, Stokes and KL Rahul are 3 of the most naturally gifted cricketers atm.
 
I'm not so sure he is better than Stokes - the Durham man is improving all the time. I think England have got someone potentially close to Kallis. I record he will average 45 with the bat and around 30 with the ball. Depends which discipline he concentrates on.

Kallis after his first 30 tests averaged 58 I think till the end of his career. Kallis was also a top order batsman.
 
Looks like he enjoys opening in ODIs... maybe, just maybe he would like to bat up the order in Tests too? :stokes
 
Brutal innings. And he's not even considered a power hitter like Roy, Hales, Ali, Stokes or Buttler - but a clean striker of the ball in his own right. Just effortlessly able to accelerate.
 
BTW not a single six in that 141 which makes it even more impressive - 17 fours. What stands out is his good hand-eye coordination, superb timing and quick hands. Hard to plan for him as a bowler as there's no glaring weaknesses.

Hales and Bairstow should be the opening partnership with Roy as the third opener in the squad.

Also, see how good he is with the bat when not saddled with the gloves ? Play him as a specialist bat too in Tests FGS.
 
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BTW not a single six in that 141 which makes it even more impressive - 17 fours. What stands out is his good hand-eye coordination, superb timing and quick hands. Hard to plan for him as a bowler as there's no glaring weaknesses.

Hales and Bairstow should be the opening partnership with Roy as the third opener in the squad.

Also, see how good he is with the bat when not saddled with the gloves ? Play him as a specialist bat too in Tests FGS.
But you need players with big muskules who can hit big sixes to score fast.

Hales can't do what Roy can. He's brutal when he scores and capable of doing it against the best. In a batting lineup this strong, I would always stick with Roy.
 
Not a single six today. A total road against a mediocre attack.

Bairstow is not a power hitter. You need someone who can utilize the field restrictions at the top. He is suited for middle order.
 
Brilliant batsmen who is proving himself in all conditions across all formats.
 
I love how old-fashioned Bairstow seems. In an age of brutal hitting, and in a team with Stokes and Moeen Ali, his classical strokeplay seems refreshing.
 
Looks like the guitarist from Coldplay so I like him, also seems like those juggernaut cricketers like Sanga and Hussey who just never want to get out and fall to luck.
 
Brutal innings. And he's not even considered a power hitter like Roy, Hales, Ali, Stokes or Buttler - but a clean striker of the ball in his own right. Just effortlessly able to accelerate.

Yeah. I still think you need Roy in the lineup, England can afford Roy because of their incredible depth. Bairstow definitely is a headache for the selectors now, and honestly I think he makes the team ahead of Root in ODIs as a top order player.
 
Yeah. I still think you need Roy in the lineup, England can afford Roy because of their incredible depth. Bairstow definitely is a headache for the selectors now, and honestly I think he makes the team ahead of Root in ODIs as a top order player.

1. Hales
2. Roy
3. Root
4. Bairstow
5. Morgan
6. Buttler
7. Stokes
8. Moeen
9. Adil
10. Liam Plunlett
11. Jake Ball/another pacer

This line up
 
With that line up England can score close to 350+ every time

Go all out gun blazing because batting is all the way to number 10.

Bowling is weak.
 
I just checked yesterday's ODI score to find that he carried his bat for 141*

He really should be batting as a specialist in tests at #5. England are wasting him.
 
Not a single six today. A total road against a mediocre attack.

Bairstow is not a power hitter. You need someone who can utilize the field restrictions at the top. He is suited for middle order.

Poor logic. Just because he didn't hit a six doesn't mean he can't be a power hitter. His strike rate yesterday was still 123.68 despite the fact he didn't clear the ropes once. That is still a superb strike rate and his ODI strike rate overall is an impressive 93.40. I think he could bat anywhere in the order to be honest as he seems like a very versatile player. I've said it before but I think he is not far off from being Joe Root level.
 
Jonny Bairstow will go into the first Test against Pakistan at Lord’s next week emboldened by a show of faith from England’s new national selector as he looks to replicate his Yorkshire role of top‑five batsman and wicketkeeper.

As the only England batsman to score two Test centuries during the winter, getting Bairstow’s talents up the order was the starting point for Ed Smith’s first squad; a more public debate beforehand was whether another gloveman would unlock more runs from his blade.

Smith and co have done so, as it happens, with Jos Buttler recalled at No 7. But such has been Bairstow’s fine work behind the stumps of late – and past county experience – that he will remain there, with England’s one‑day keeper the specialist batsman in this format.

“I’m very proud to be asked to move up the order,” Bairstow said. “It means the people in charge have got the belief in you to go out and deliver. They are asking a little extra, saying: ‘We want you to do this, we trust you, we believe in you’ – and that’s what you want.

“It’s something I’ve done for Yorkshire for a while, and occasionally you are back in the middle after being in the field for a lot of overs, but you have to deal with it – that’s why we do all the physical preparation. You are going to be tired at the end of a Test match no matter what.”

Since the gloves were handed over by Buttler in Sharjah in 2015, the pair have played three Tests together in India where the same roles were allocated albeit chiefly due to the batting alternatives, Ben Duckett and Gary Ballance, having already been exhausted by this point.

Bairstow, who compared it to their reversed roles in the 50-over side, is feeling no extra pressure. “I think there’s an understanding among all of us that anyone can keep wicket on any given day. But at the same time I’d like to think my keeping has gone from strength to strength, and that hard work doesn’t stop.

“If I drop a chance I’m not going to be thinking: ‘Oh, blooming heck.’ I might be catching 500 to 600 balls in a day and, realistically, there are going to be half-chances that are bouncing in front of first slip and you have to dive across.

“That’s why you do your practice – it might be that, out of the three out of 10 you’re not meant to take, you end up grabbing one of them.”

Meanwhile NatWest has been unveiled as the title sponsor for the upcoming Test series, before Specsavers takes over for the visit of India in a deal that runs until 2019 and will see England versus Australia become “the Specsavers Ashes series”.

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2018/may/18/jonny-bairstow-jos-buttler-england-pakistan
 
Bairstow is a wonderful batsman, but it's going to be very difficult for him to bat in the top 5 and maintain keeping standards. The only person I remember doing that recently to some effect was Alec Stewart, but he used to go through highs-and-troughs regularly. Even Gilly mentioned he liked to bat lower because the strain was quite incredible otherwise.
 
England's Jonny Bairstow is "sulking" because he is not keeping wicket in the fourth Test against India, says former captain Michael Vaughan.

Bairstow, who fractured a finger when keeping in the third Test at Trent Bridge, is playing as a specialist batsman at Southampton.

He made six in the first innings and was bowled first ball on day three.

"I'm not sure where Jonny's mentality is," Vaughan told BBC Test Match Special.

"It looks like he's got the 'poor old me's' because he wants to be keeping."

Bairstow also made a golden duck in the second innings of the defeat at Trent Bridge, batting down the order with a broken middle finger on his left hand.

Jos Buttler, who is keeping at Southampton, made 69 as England closed day on 280-6, a lead of 233.

Jonny Bairstow
Bairstow 'not good enough to bat higher than seven'

Bairstow, who has made all five of his Test centuries as a keeper, said he wanted to keep at Southampton if passed fit.

He was caught behind off Jasprit Bumrah in the first innings and had his leg stump removed by Mohammed Shami as he attempted to drive the first ball after lunch on day three.

Vaughan, who captained England in 51 of his 82 Tests, said: "If he's going to be a batsman he is going to have to bat up the order. You can't just be a batsman but bat in the middle order where he wants to.

"He's just got to have a look in the mirror, ask himself a couple of questions and get his mentality back on track."

Former England batsman Geoffrey Boycott added: "Bairstow is a number seven at Test level. He's not good enough to bat higher than that."

Bairstow has been fantastic - Buttler

Buttler, who was recalled as a specialist batsman at the start of the summer, took the gloves after Bairstow was injured at Trent Bridge and was named as keeper at Southampton.

"We've played a lot of cricket together both with him wicketkeeping or me wicketkeeping - in one-dayers and Test matches - and it has not been a problem at all," said Buttler, England's regular one-day keeper.

"Jonny's not fit to keep in this match, which is frustrating for him because he has been fantastic in the last few years for England.

"Whatever happens moving forward doesn't affect me or Jonny.

"For me, being back in the Test side is fantastic, so gloves on or not doesn't matter."

England lead 2-1 in the five-Test series.

https://www.bbc.com/sport/cricket/45385758
 
He is quality batsmen but not extra-ordinary, which I think most agrees with.

Should have given up the gloves 1 year back and I think he hasn't given up gloves yet(he is having finger issues, so not keeping).

If England play Root at 4 and Bairstow at 5, there is an issue that their top 3 spots are completely vacant, so whenever they will come to bat they will have a repair job to do. One reason why I felt they were trying to make Ali bat at 3 but dont think he is good enough for that.

Root should stay at 4 only and maybe Bairstow should bat at top or else England need to find someone who can bring stability at the top 3, so that Joe and Johnny can maximise it with their prolific run-scoring ability.

Buttler should bat at 7 and take gloves as well.
 
Its the other way around because he is not consistent enough.

Their captain is still their best batsmen.
 
Excellent ODI player but nothing special in tests.Watling, De Kock, M Rabin, Paine, and Sarfraz are all better
 
100 for Bairstow! What an innings - really getting better with each outing
 
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Jonny Bairstow said he was proud to score a century on his return to the England team after being "castigated" for being injured.

An ankle injury sustained playing football caused Bairstow to miss the first Test on the tour of Sri Lanka.

He lost his place as wicketkeeper but returned to make 110 batting at number three on day one of the third Test.

"There are bits that people don't see, yet they have an opinion on it," Bairstow told Sky Sports.

"The bits behind the scenes, doing your rehab, sleeping on an ice machine."

It is unclear what criticism Bairstow is referring to, but he added: "There are different things that you go through when you get castigated about being injured, doing X,Y and Z when people don't actually see what's gone on.

"It's all well and good when it's going well and people have an opinion on how well you're playing, but it's the hidden things that they don't see."

Football has been part of England's warm-ups in training and on matchdays for the past three years.

Bairstow's right ankle injury led to him missing the final two one-day internationals against Sri Lanka and, when Ben Foakes took the gloves in the first Test, the debutant made a century to keep Bairstow out for the second.

With the only vacancy in the England side for the final Test coming as a specialist batsman at number three, Bairstow registered his sixth Test ton to help the tourists to 312-7 at the close.

On reaching three figures, Bairstow celebrated with a sustained and emotional roar, dropping his bat to the ground and looking to the sky.

"You've got to deliver when you're asked to," added the 29-year-old. "You get left out of a side when you haven't done too much wrong over the past couple of years, all of a sudden you're asked to bat in a role that you haven't done before, so you're learning on the job.

"You look at the challenges that have been put in front of me as a cricketer. There have been quite a few and I like to think I have come through most of them. It's been tough.

"People who sometimes don't see the hard work that goes on behind the scenes sometimes have an opinion. They are sitting at home and they don't see the graft that's going on in the heat and the humidity."

Bairstow also described how recent personal tragedies had given "perspective" to his cricket.

"Two people that I know have passed away in the past couple of weeks," said the Yorkshireman.

"It just shows that we're playing a game of cricket and people have an opinion on that. We're playing a game, we're trying our best. To put it into perspective is something."

https://www.bbc.com/sport/cricket/46320125
 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Jonny Bairstow's 84* off only 24 balls is the highest ever score in the T10 League. The innings contained 6 fours and 8 sixes and was made at a strike-rate of 350.00 <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/T10League?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#T10League</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Cricket?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Cricket</a></p>— Saj Sadiq (@Saj_PakPassion) <a href="https://twitter.com/Saj_PakPassion/status/1068572728595234816?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 30, 2018</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
 
He has turned into one solid player. Pretty much scores in evey format and a good wicketkeeper too.
 
Under-estimate him at your own peril! hundred against Pakistan.
 
England's Jonny Bairstow says his Indian Premier League stint batting alongside Australian David Warner has taken his game to new heights.

Bairstow declared Warner an "excellent" teammate after their stint together opening the batting for the Sunrisers Hyderabad as the one-time vehement Ashes rivals struck up a friendship.

The 29-year-old's century on Tuesday helped England make light work of chasing down a whopping 359-run target to win by six wickets in the third one-day international in Bristol to take a 2-0 series lead over Pakistan.

Pakistan's 8-358 on a flat pitch with a career-best 151 from Imam-ul-Haq looked to have given the visitors a fair chance of victory but it proved inadequate as Bairstow led the England charge.

He smashed 128 from 93 balls after sharing a 159-run first wicket stand with Jason Roy, launching the hosts to their second-highest successful ODI run chase.

"You're able to learn different things from different coaches and different players," said Bairstow of his time with Warner at the IPL.

"It's just little things like game plans. He (Warner) hits in completely different areas to potentially myself.

"I guess it's method more than anything else."

Earlier this month Bairstow spoke about how Warner the teammate differed from the one with whom he clashed during the the 2017-18 Ashes series on Australian soil.

"He has had a lot of things that have gone on over the last 18 months and the IPL was only his second competition back," Bairstow told the Telegraph UK.

"I think that experience (ball-tampering) can only change you as a person.

"He was a very good teammate, he passed on a lot of knowledge about local bowlers, game-plans, pitches, everything. He was excellent.

"We can say hello now. We did not have a connection before, but now we’ve played together and done well together and had a good partnership it will make a difference.

"We spent five weeks together having dinner and coffees. It changes things but it will still be England versus Australia."

There were still 5.1 overs left when England captain Eoin Morgan struck the winning run to beat Pakistan on Tuesday.

"Extremely proud, we felt that was on par, and Jonny and Jason were brilliant," Morgan, who will lead England into the World Cup on home soil, said.

"When guys perform like this it builds confidence, for looking ahead, it builds confidence in the group."

England had made 373 in their victory at Southampton at the weekend and once again showed the formidable firepower which will make them one of the favourites in the looming tournament.

Openers Roy and Bairstow began tucking into the Pakistan attack with relish, racking up 74 from the first 10 overs and taking it to 159 in 17.3 overs.

Roy struck four sixes in his 76 while Bairstow belted 15 fours and five sixes before he was eventually bowled by Junaid Khan.

Joe Root then chipped in with 43 and Ben Stokes 37 as England romped to the joint fifth-highest successful ODI run chase.

England quick Chris Woakes had earlier reduced Pakistan to 2-27 before opener Imam hit a superb 151 to enable the visitors to post a big score for the second match in a row.

They smashed 361 in a losing cause at Southampton after the first ODI in the series was washed out at The Oval.

2019 World Cup

Australia's squad: Aaron Finch (c), Jason Behrendorff, Alex Carey (wk), Nathan Coulter-Nile, Pat Cummins, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Shaun Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Kane Richardson, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, David Warner, Adam Zampa

May 22: (warm-up) Australia v West Indies, Southampton

May 25: (warm-up) England v Australia, Southampton

May 27: (warm-up) Australia v Sri Lanka, Southampton

June 1: Afghanistan v Australia, Bristol (D/N)

June 6: Australia v West Indies, Trent Bridge

June 9: India v Australia, The Oval

June 12: Australia v Pakistan, Taunton

June 15: Sri Lanka v Australia, The Oval

June 20: Australia v Bangladesh, Trent Bridge

June 25: England v Australia, Lord's

June 29: New Zealand v Australia, Lord's (D/N)

July 6: Australia v South Africa, Old Trafford (D/N)

July 9: Semi-Final 1, Old Trafford

July 11: Semi-Final 2, Edgbaston

July 14: Final, Lord's

https://www.cricket.com.au/news/jon...o-new-heights-england-pakistan-odi/2019-05-15
 
Bairstow averages

105 vs Scotland
77 vs NZ
67 vs Windies
63 vs Pakistan
40 vs SA
39 vs Australia
31 vs India
21 vs Srilanka
16 vs BD

Do you infer anything from this?

He gets out to left armers a lot
Among spinners

Jaddu 4 out of 7 innings
Kuldeep 2 out of 3 innings

Among pacers
Starc 2 out of 6
Boult 2 out of 5
Cottreel 2 out of 4

SOme of the leading wicket takers. You need left arm spinners to pick him out.
 
Doing a great recovery job with Woakes - really could be the star of the series for England.
 
I lost patience with the bloke a while back. Drop him and pick Foakes.
 
Can’t count the amount of times he’s been clean-bowled going for a drive with zero foot movement in the last two years.
 
They need to get in Foakes anyhow as wicket-keeper and play Bairstow as batsmen.

Burns
______
Root
_______
Bairstow
Stokes
Foakes(wkt)
Woakes
Archer
Leach
Broad
 
England’s Jonny Bairstow has been reprimanded and has also received one demerit point after being found guilty of a Level 1 breach of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel during the 5th T20I match against New Zealand at Eden Park in Auckland on Sunday.

The England batsman was found to have violated Article 2.3 of the code, which relates to “use of an audible obscenity during an international match”.

Bairstow used an audible obscenity after his dismissal in the seventh over, which was picked up by the stump mic and heard on TV.

After the day’s play, Bairstow admitted the offence and accepted the sanction proposed by Andy Pycroft of the Emirates ICC Elite Panel of Match Referees and, as such, there was no need for a formal hearing.

The charge was levelled by on-field umpires Wayne Knights and Chris Gaffaney and third umpire Christopher Brown as well as fourth umpire Shaun Haig.

Level 1 breaches carry a minimum penalty of an official reprimand, a maximum penalty of 50 per cent of a player’s match fee, and one or two demerit points.

https://www.icc-cricket.com/media-releases/1493313
 
Test average now sits at 34.74.

Last few Test scores:

1 9 22 14 17 25 4 36 52 30* 8 6 0 0 2.
 
To be fair to Son of Bluey he has been recalled into the England side with no practice and having had no chance to fix his bowled problem.
 
Fastest fifty against Ireland in ODIs :

19 Ross Taylor, Aberdeen 2008
20 Richie Berrington, Edinburgh 2011
21 Farhaan Behardien, Benoni 2016
21 Jonny Bairstow, Southampton 2020*

Bairstow is batting on 59* off 29.
 
I believe he is neither underrated nor overrated. He is a really good LOI player and that's about it.
 
He was a good test player for a few years and has been a good LOI player from a few years now. Unfortunately, he failed to do it parallely.
 
Jonny Bairstow set his sights on helping England to defend the World Cup in three years' time after his record-equalling half-century sealed an ODI series victory against Ireland.

The 30-year-old smashed 82 from 41 balls at the top of the order to set up his side's four-wicket victory at the Ageas Bowl, reaching 50 in just 21 deliveries - the joint-quickest by an Englishman in ODI cricket.

Bairstow also passed the milestone of 3,000 international runs in 50-over cricket, joining team-mate and fellow Yorkshireman Joe Root as the fifth fastest to do so in world cricket.

Highlights from Southampton after Bairstow smashed 82 from 41 balls in England's four-wicket win over Ireland in the second ODI
But the wicketkeeper-batsman is already targeting further landmarks and a place in the England side for the next 50-over World Cup, due to take place in 2023.

"I'm really proud of that," Bairstow told Sky Sports. "It's been a testing journey at times but to have reached that landmark - and hopefully there's many more - means a lot now.

"But we go again - we try and reach 4,000, we try and reach even more than that, as long as you're contributing to the team and playing the way we have been over the last few years.

"We're striving to keep pushing those boundaries forward to 2023. That's my next bit - I want to be there in 2023 and really pushing and see if we can retain it.

"I'm enjoying batting at the top of the order and the partnership with Jason (Roy) has gone well. Naturally there's things I want to work on, that comes with time but at the moment I'm happy with the way I'm striking the ball.

"I've had a bit of a lay-off and to get runs in the warm-up game, then back it up in the ODIs is really pleasing."

Bairstow's blistering knock laid the foundations for England's success, although they did endure a significant middle-order wobble following his dismissal by Josh Little.

Captain Eoin Morgan and Moeen Ali both departed for ducks as the home side slumped to 136-6 in pursuit of Ireland's 212-9 before Sam Billings and David Willey saw them home with an unbroken partnership of 79.

Sky Sports analyst Rob Key reckons Bairstow's effort at the Ageas Bowl highlighted his credentials as one of the best limited-overs openers in world cricket.

"The pitch, when he was batting, looked an absolute belter," said Key. "There was a bit of pace in it and Jonny Bairstow smashed it everywhere.

"He hit it on the up, he looked like he could pull, the odd bouncer was flying through and then there was a point when Eoin Morgan got out and Billings had only just got in - no-one else had got a run.

David Willey and Sam Billings shared an unbroken fifty stand to steer England to victory in the second ODI, with Willey pulling away the winning four.

"He was just playing a different game to everyone else, bar Billings and Willey at the end. When he's on song, there's not many better to watch for pure ball-striking and the way he takes to opening bowlers.

"You certainly can't call him a flat track bully - this wasn't one of those. If you were picking a world XI for opening batsmen in 50-over cricket at the moment, it'd be hard to leave him out."

https://www.skysports.com/cricket/n...fter-helping-england-seal-win-against-ireland
 
Wicketkeeper-batsman Jonny Bairstow has not been given an England central contract for Test cricket in 2020-21.

Yorkshire's Bairstow, 31, who was not selected for the summer's Test series with West Indies and Pakistan, remains contracted for limited-overs cricket.

Batsmen Zak Crawley, Ollie Pope and Dom Sibley all receive a Test central contract for the first time.

All-rounder Tom Curran has been given a white-ball contract, while Kent batsman Joe Denly misses out altogether.

Denly had previously held a limited-overs contract.

Meanwhile, spinner Dom Bess, seamer Chris Jordan and batsman Dawid Malan - previously uncontracted - will receive incremental deals.

The contracts, handed to a total of 23 players, start on 1 October and run for 12 months.

Players on the Test and white-ball contracts will have their salaries, which are calculated by a ranking system based on performance, fitness and other factors, paid in full by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB).

However, the ECB says there could be an impact on how much players are paid as a result of the financial impact of the coronavirus pandemic, with levels of remuneration currently being finalised.

https://www.bbc.com/sport/cricket/54352180
 
Duck today in the IPL vs CSK - second flop of the tournament for him.
 
Bairstow is a tragedy at test level. He should have been England’s #5 for the last seven years and not kept wicket. He has always had the ability to average a hard-hitting 45 in tests. I saw that in the match where he got 50 and 95 against Steyn and Philander.
 
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