Bairstow focuses on Championship challenge after Test disappointment

JONNY BAIRSTOW is taking the disappointment of being left out by England on the chin as he attempts to reinforce his Test claims at county level.
Yorkshire's Jonny BairstowYorkshire's Jonny Bairstow
Yorkshire's Jonny Bairstow

The Yorkshire batsman/wicketkeeper was omitted from the squad for the first Test against Sri Lanka at Lord’s, starting on Thursday.

Bairstow could consider himself unfortunate, having been the man in possession of the gloves after playing in England’s last Test against Australia in Sydney.

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But after England handed a recall to Sussex’s Matt Prior, who has only recently returned to action following an Achilles injury, Bairstow adopted a common-sense outlook to his international situation.

“I’m obviously disappointed to have missed out on the squad, but it’s one of those things,” said Bairstow, who has played 14 Tests and seven one-day internationals. “I just have to focus on Yorkshire and trying to score as many runs as possible and keeping wicket well too, like I feel that I have been doing.

“The season’s been a bit stop-start for me, having a broken finger early on, but there’s plenty of cricket still left to be played.

“There’s not much I can do about it (England) except to take things on the chin and try to get on with it.”

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It is level-headed stuff from Bairstow, who has been getting on with things nicely for Yorkshire this summer.

After breaking a finger during a pre-season friendly at Northampton, which ruled him out of the start to the County Championship season, he has performed well with the bat and behind the stumps.

Bairstow had started the first-class season with an innings of 123 against Leeds-Bradford MCCU at Headingley – and he followed it up on his return from injury with 95 against Durham at Chester-le-Street, when he was denied a century by a dubious lbw decision.

However, he acknowledges that there is always room for improvement, and he is determined to find greater consistency going forward.

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“I’d like to have scored a few more runs in the Championship; I’m not going to hide away from that,” said Bairstow, who is averaging 40-plus in first-class matches. “I know I can do that and it’s something I’m continually working to achieve.

“As far as my wicketkeeping is concerned, I’ve been pleased with that and I’ve been doing a lot of work on it recently. My keeping is only going to improve by keeping in games of cricket, which is what I’m doing at the moment, which is really good for me.”

After lengthy spells as a drinks waiter with England, who have not handled him as well as they might have in recent times, Bairstow is happy to be playing regularly.

He has been encouraged by Yorkshire’s promising start to the summer, with the side handily placed near the top of Division One as they bid to win their first Championship title since 2001.

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“It’s been a good start to the season for us overall,” said Bairstow. “It’s perhaps not been absolutely 100 per cent clinical all of the time, I think we’d all acknowledge that, but it’s been very good nevertheless and I think there’s definitely more to come from us.

“Obviously, having three lads away with England this week for the Test match against Sri Lanka isn’t an ideal situation as far as the club are concerned, but the guys who have come in are high-quality guys and we’re confident that we can keep on pushing for the Championship as the season develops.”

Bairstow, 24, was speaking at Headingley during a special education day that was part of Yorkshire Tea National Cricket Week.

Some 600 children from 20 local schools had a chance to meet one of their cricketing heroes and play on the famous Headingley turf.

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Organised by the Yorkshire Cricket Foundation in partnership with the Emerald Foundation, the education day was one of six flagship media events being held around the country to celebrate Chance to Shine’s national celebration of cricket in schools.

Chance to Shine is the charitable campaign that has helped to keep cricket alive in schools since its launch in 2005 by working to reverse the decline of cricket in state schools.

For Bairstow, the education day had special significance.

“When I was younger, I remember going along to Harrogate and playing in a similar day, so it brought back a few memories for me,” he said.

“It was also fantastic that my old primary school at Dunnington was there and it was good to see my old teacher, Mr Martinez, who I hope will feel very old now I’ve just said that.

“But, in all seriousness, if there’s one or two kids who are inspired to play in their village, their districts, after coming to this event then that can only be good for the game in Yorkshire.”