We'll bounce back – proud Bairstow

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The White Rose county endured a semi-final defeat in the Clydesdale Bank 40 last Saturday and then threw away their chance of winning the County Championship title with a catastrophic 44-minute collapse in the final game of the season against Kent on Thursday.

That dramatic capitulation – so uncharacteristic in a season when Andrew Gale's young charges have defied the odds with a collection of mature performances – afforded Nottinghamshire the luxury of needing only a draw at Lancashire to sew up a second title in five years.

Having gone so close, the hurt will linger for a number of weeks around a squad of players that in recent seasons has become accustomed to an emotion of relief at the end of a successful battle against relegation.

But such strides have been made in the past six months by a team consisting of exciting home-grown talent that many are now tipping this new generation to spark a golden era at Headingley Carnegie.

And if they are to fulfil this potential, 20-year-old Bairstow believes this last week could prove a pivotal moment in their learning curve.

"Without a doubt there's disappointment running around the camp but that disappointment will be turned into experience and come next year, and hopefully the year after that and the year after that, the guys will be still be working hard and still fighting for the White Rose," said the passionate batsman.

"At the start of the year everyone was writing us off to not even come top half of the table so to finish third in the championship with the strength of sides that are in this division and to be in with a shout right down to the end of the year is absolutely fantastic.

"The guys have worked hard and relished that people were doubting us.

"For us to have the season we have had takes a lot of guts and determination and hard work from everyone here at the club; the coaches, the players and the backroom staff.

"So everyone should be really proud of themselves. The task now is to come back pre-season and work really hard and go again next year and, hopefully, bring back some silverware.

"Everyone will learn from this and if we're ever in a situation like this again, which I'm sure we will be in the near future, then we'll be able to capitalise on the things we didn't do so well and put them right next time."

What heartens Bairstow most is the fighting spirit within Yorkshire's young dressing room.

"We'll have to wait and see whether this is the start of a new era, but the best thing about us is we never know when we're beaten," said the Bradford-born batsman, who only made his first-class debut in June, 2009.

"Kent were 70-2 chasing 90 on Thursday and all of a sudden we got them to 86-6. That shows a massive amount of never-say-die and a real will to win and succeed.

"I'm sure there'll be many times in the future when we're in that position again and that will provide many happy memories and many sad memories, that the supporters and the rest of the guys will go through."

Bairstow's transformation into an integral part of the Yorkshire set-up over the past season

has been one of the many highlights.

As the son of the late Yorkshire great David Bairstow, his progress will always be one followed closely by Yorkshire members and cricket lovers alike.

For the statisticians among us, he has certainly shown that if the White Rose is to blossom over the coming years, the player who turns 21 next weekend will be central to their ambitions.

In his first full season, he finished as Yorkshire's fourth highest-scoring batsman with 918 runs at an average of 41.72. He had the best strike rate among his team-mates of 62 runs per 100 balls and amassed eight half-centuries, with perhaps the one regret – or the one incentive for next season – being his failure to record a maiden first-class century.

He was adept, though, at helping Yorkshire breast the finishing tape with three notable innings against Warwickshire, twice, and in the penultimate game against Notts.

"I'm thrilled to have scored nearly 1,000 runs in the Championship, but as I've said before I'm just the lucky one that gets to score runs to try and finish the games off," said the selfless Bairstow.

"The other guys deserve all the credit: Adam Lyth scoring 1,500 runs, Jacques Rudolph 1,350, Anthony McGrath over 1,000 runs and Adil and Steve Patterson taking all those wickets.

"Those guys have worked really hard and it would be selfish and somewhat poor of me to say its all me, because my success has been helped by those guys."

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