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At the start of 2021, when Jonny Bairstow arrived in India, having served his mandatory two-Test hiatus in sync with England’s now infamous “rest and rotation” policy, the Three Lions seemed on the brink of a capitulation. Though the series was still deadlocked at 1-1, the Indians had flexed their muscles ominously at Chennai.
To add to that, India also gave England a resounding display of how dominant they could be on raging turners – something that became the norm for the rest of the rubber. More importantly, though, there were flickers that Joe Root’s runs had started drying up, meaning that a batting apocalypse beckoned for England.
Bairstow, meanwhile, was hoping to resurrect his personal fortunes, especially after being cast aside from the Test side a while back. However, against Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka, Bairstow portrayed plenty of encouraging signs – signs that prompted England to pin their hopes on the wicket-keeper.
Not just because he also had experience of playing top-level cricket in India but also because his ability to counter-punch remains second to none in international cricket.
Yet, Bairstow contrived to commission his personal pond, with a score of 28 being sandwiched between three ducks. All of it was achieved in just four innings, meaning that Bairstow, who had promised a renaissance a month ago, had now seemingly played himself out of contention.
In the aftermath of the series, Sunil Gavaskar was quick to label Bairstow as someone who was “uninterested” in England’s cause – a couple of sweeps at the start of the innings were perhaps the trigger. He even went on to suggest that such application wasn’t what the Three Lions required, especially at No.3.
Days later, Bairstow responded to Gavaskar post his match-winning ton at Pune in the 2nd ODI, quipping that the former had neither heard the latter’s comment nor did he know exactly how Gavaskar could come to that conclusion.
Rather unabashedly, Bairstow commented that he had the “will and the want” to do well in Test cricket and that he got immense enjoyment when representing England in the longest format.
Despite that assessment of himself, red-ball opportunities were at a premium. Not just because Bairstow was part of the English contingent at the IPL that was postponed, but also because it seemed that England had moved past him.
In fact, when the schedule for The Hundred was announced, the Welsh Fire – a team that Bairstow was earmarked to skipper, began planning for the competition with the wicket-keeper a part of their team throughout the competition.
England, meanwhile, had slightly different ideas and with the paucity of options at their disposal, they decided to hand Bairstow another shot at Test redemption against India.
Unsurprisingly, it was met with skepticism, for that inclusion came at some of the youngsters’ cost. And while the next generation of English batters haven’t particularly set the world ablaze, it still seemed a missed opportunity to groom someone.
Thus, it isn’t unreasonable to say that Bairstow had a mountain of pressure to handle before the rubber. He didn’t just have to cement his place as a frontline batter, he also had to remind people what he was capable of in Test cricket.
So far, though, he has acclimatized well and barring the odd soft dismissal, has looked every ounce the Test cricketer England thought they were reclaiming in Sri Lanka in 2021.
Jonny Bairstow has altered his technique for Test cricket
At the heart of it has been a technical change implemented by Bairstow – a tweak many thought he wasn’t capable of. When the wicket-keeper began his career, he resembled a carefree stroke-maker and one with the propensity to transfer pressure onto the bowlers.
Those tendencies were raised a notch when he began opening in England’s white-ball setup in the summer of 2017, for he was now expected to become the torchbearer of England’s firebrand approach. To be fair to him, he has morphed into arguably the Three Lions’ greatest-ever ODI batter and formed a deadly combination with Jason Roy.
That, though, seems to have had a detrimental effect on his Test fortunes – something that he is actively wanting to correct this home summer.
During his rise in white-ball cricket, Bairstow has been content to stay leg side of the ball, considering it allows him to free his arms and access both sides of the wicket in matches where brisk run-scoring is the sole requirement. In turn, it left him slightly vulnerable to the incoming deliveries, for there remained a massive gap between his bat and pad.
The numbers back up that argument too. Since being promoted to open the batting in June 2017, Bairstow has been bowled in Test cricket 20 times out of 67 innings (excluding two unbeaten knocks), which roughly equates to a percentage of 29.85. Prior to the aforementioned phase, Bairstow was bowled only 14 times in the 59 essays when he was dismissed – the corresponding percentage being 23.72.
The proclivity to remain leg-side of the ball has allowed Bairstow to not waft at deliveries outside off stump, considering he leaves balls that are outside his line of vision comfortably. Since June 2017, he has been caught behind only 8 times out of 67, whereas bowlers exploited that mode of dismissal on 13 occasions (out of 59) prior to it.
During the current series against India, Bairstow has decided to rekindle as a pre-June 2017 version of himself, meaning that he isn’t staying leg side of the ball. Instead, he is shuffling across his stumps and negating that threat.
To place things into further context, Bairstow isn’t a batter that usually deploys an extravagant trigger movement. However, against India, he has been willing to take a guard that is probably on middle and leg stump before his trigger allows him to establish a base on off stump or even a shade outside it.
In the process, the incoming balls have become easier to negotiate, for they have been on the pads – an area that has long been Bairstow’s strength. While that has left Bairstow slightly vulnerable to the LBW, as against Mohammed Shami at Trent Bridge, one would expect the Englishman to make merry on that line, more often than not.
Another important string that Bairstow has added (or retrieved) is patience – a virtue that he doesn’t have to use a lot in white-ball cricket. In both matches against India, Bairstow has been content to bide his time and has been severe on any ball that has either been over-pitched or has provided him with width. Though the pull stroke hasn’t come off quite as well, one feels Bairstow might not lose much sleep over it.
Apart from that, another potential reason for Bairstow’s struggles (post-June 2017) can be attributed to indecisiveness in the English camp. When he made his mark and established himself as one of the best middle-and-lower-order batters in the world, Bairstow was still keeping wickets.
More recently, he has been playing as a specialist batter. While that may not make a huge difference to the average cricket watcher, it certainly is something that puts extra onus on Bairstow, for he has to fit into the team through the sheer weight of his runs.
The discrepancy in stats is quite remarkable as well. When being the designated keeper, Bairstow averages a tick under 39 runs per innings throughout his career.
When playing as a pure batter, that average dips to 27.93. Furthermore, all but one of his six Test tons have come when he is the designated keeper, indicating that he reserves his best performances when being entrusted with the gloves.
Hence, there are a few factors that could explain why Bairstow seemingly fell off a cliff in Test cricket. However, when talking about Bairstow, who simply put, is one of England’s greatest match-winners ever, there always exists a temptation to look past those issues and provide him with one final opportunity to solidify his spot in the Test team.
Back in India in February and March 2021, it seemed that that was the platform for Bairstow to silence his doubters. Yet, the tour ended with more question marks over his temperament and technique.
Now, though, Bairstow has, in his inimitable manner, found a way to graft, grind and muscle his way through. While a substantial knock has eluded him, it seems just a matter of time at present – in stark contrast to how it was in the winter where a low score seemed inevitable.
Thus, it seems that Bairstow has a lot of Test cricket left in him. And that retort to Gavaskar, which was branded absurd and brash at the time, seems to make a lot more sense now.
Maybe the “will and the want” to do well in Test cricket existed all along for Bairstow. The difference is that he is now showing it to the rest of the world too!
Also Read: Rohit Sharma - the Test batter may have finally arrived
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