"He reacts best when the pressure is on" - Stuart Broad backs Jonny Bairstow to perform well in 4th Ashes Test

Senior England pacer Stuart Broad has earmarked Jonny Bairstow to deliver in the fourth Ashes Test in Manchester after a lean series so far. The 37-year-old reckons the keeper-batter is a lot like him as they both bring their A-game when most under pressure.

Since his run-a-ball 78 in the first innings of the first Test at Lord's, Bairstow has had scores of 20, 16, 10, 12, and 5 in his next five innings. It also included a controversial dismissal in the second Test at Lord's.

In his column for The Daily Mail, Broad wrote that Bairstow will walk out at Old Trafford with something to prove to his detractors.

"We all know Jonny Bairstow well enough to be able to say with confidence that he reacts best when the pressure is on. In that respect, he and I are quite similar. Which is why I’ve got a feeling he’s going to deliver this week. He’ll feel he has a point to prove — not to any of us in the dressing room, but to the outside world," Broad wrote.

With James Anderson failing to make an impact in the first two Ashes Tests, Broad reckons the 40-year-old has been unfortunate.

"I know that Jimmy Anderson, too, by his own admission, didn’t have the best games at Edgbaston and Lord’s, but I honestly think he was unlucky — both with the timing of his groin injury with Lancashire, which disturbed his Ashes preparation and with the pitches. He’s bowled goodness knows how many overs at Old Trafford and I’m expecting a big performance from him in a high-pressure game," he added.

Anderson, who has managed only three wickets in the first two Ashes Tests, blasted the slow pitch at Edgbaston. However, the veteran pacer felt he underperformed at Lord's before Chris Woakes replaced him for the Leeds Test.

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"The celebrations were muted" - Stuart Broad on England's three-wicket win at Headingley

Stuart Broad. (Image Credits: Getty)

Stuart Broad elaborated that England didn't celebrate their Headingley win extravagantly as they recognized their job was still incomplete.

"It might surprise you to know that the mood when Wiz [Chris Woakes] hit the winning runs at Headingley was quite business-like. It was a case of, right, the job's done, but we have more to do. The celebrations were muted and I was asleep by 10 past nine because I was so knackered," he wrote.

England are currently 2-1 down in the five-match series and will be eager to level proceedings in Manchester.