Don't panic - Jonny Bairstow delivers calming message to England

Jonny Bairstow says England will not panic even if they lose the second Test to Pakistan which begins at Old Trafford on Friday.
England's Jonny Bairstow during day two of the Investec Third Test match at Lord's, London.England's Jonny Bairstow during day two of the Investec Third Test match at Lord's, London.
England's Jonny Bairstow during day two of the Investec Third Test match at Lord's, London.

England head into the second Investec Test trailing 1-0 after losing the opening match by 75 runs at Lord’s.

But wicketkeeper Bairstow believes Alastair Cook’s side will maintain their calm, even if things do not go their way in Manchester ahead of later challenges at Edgbaston and The Oval.

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Asked if a second Test defeat would result in panic, Bairstow said: “I wouldn’t say panic, no, there will still be two more games to go. It wouldn’t be panic stations, at all, by any means.”

Jimmy Anderson, Ben Stokes and Adil Rashid could all return to the starting XI at Old Trafford after being drafted into a 14-man squad.

“Fourteen into 11 doesn’t go so there’s going to be some desperately disappointed guys that miss out for those spots come Friday morning,” said Bairstow.

“I’m just trying to concentrate on training and hopefully getting in that final 11 for the game on Friday. It shows the strength in depth that we’ve got throughout all three formats of the game.”

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Bairstow believes England will be looking to make up for defeat in the first Test.

He added: “We’ve got to go out there and put the record straight. We were slightly behind the eight ball pretty much all the way through. It’s a case of going out there, expressing ourselves and really just going out and attacking the challenge.”

Coping with the threat of spinner Yasir Shah, who moved to number one in the Test bowler rankings after taking 10 wickets at Lord’s, is something Bairstow is focusing on.

Bairstow said: “We gave him some soft wickets at Lord’s. It will be a good challenge. There’s no reason why we can’t go into Old Trafford, into Edgbaston and into The Oval and nullify that threat.”