Jonny Bairstow secretly loves the stick he gets says Yorkshire CCC boss Darren Gough

The Yorkshire batsman/wicketkeeper has taken plenty of stick throughout his career.

From criticism of his technique against the short ball when he was younger, to his skill behind the stumps in relation to his rivals, Bairstow has perhaps faced more flak than anyone with a comparably outstanding record in all formats.

But Gough - one of his biggest fans - reckons the 33-year-old secretly enjoys it and uses it to fuel his brilliant displays.

“Jonny’s a competitor, Jonny’s a fighter,” said Yorkshire’s managing director of cricket.

“He loves being ripped to bits really because he’s always wanting to prove people wrong.

“He’s got a great character; it’s just typical Jonny.

"His dad was the same. There’s no difference between his dad, who I played with, and Jonny as far as being a competitor is concerned and that bulldog spirit out on the pitch. It’s just their way.

“Personally, I think he enjoys it (the criticism). He moans about it, but he enjoys it really.”

Gough believes criticism of Bairstow is unfounded. It surfaced again during the Ashes; Bairstow dropped a few chances and was not at his best at the start of the series, but, as he protested with some justification, he was returning from a serious injury.

Bairstow suffered a freak accident playing golf last September, breaking his left leg and dislocating his left ankle, and feared he might not walk again.

All told he could be proud of his work against Australia: 322 runs in the five Tests at an average of 40.25, to go with 23 catches and a stumping.

“I can’t believe, when I think about it now, that he played in all five Tests,” added Gough.

“I mean, his leg was in bits, so he’s done brilliantly just to get back playing.

“It’s a huge credit to him to get back from where he was; I mean, I didn’t think he had any chance of playing five.

“I thought if he played in three Tests, the last three Tests, it would be unbelievable, but he managed to get through all five and actually did well.”

Gough felt that Bairstow grew in stature.

Unsurprisingly, he improved with game-time, having played just two County Championship matches and one T20 Blast game for Yorkshire prior to the series.

“I think he got better as the series went on, so huge credit to him,” said Gough. “He takes stick for his keeping because (Ben) Foakes is such a brilliant keeper.

“But we’ve always had that; there’s always going to be controversy around if someone of that quality is not being picked.

“It happened in my era, it happened before that. It’s always going to happen.

“Jonny gets in the team as a batter or a batter/keeper. Jonny plays, no matter what.

“But people shouldn’t criticise him for his keeping. It’s a team decision - they want to pack their side with batting which enables them to play the way that they play - and he’s still an unbelievable keeper in his own right.

“He had a couple of moments where it didn’t go so well for him (in the Ashes), but he also took some absolute belters.”

Meanwhile, Gough might have afforded himself a wry smile after it was announced on Thursday that pace bowler Neil Wagner has joined Somerset for their last three Championship games.

Gough signed Wagner for the first 10 Championship matches only for the New Zealander to suffer a torn right hamstring and a bulging disc in his back while playing against Sri Lanka in March.