Bullish Bairstow Taking His Game To Another Level With Bat And Ball

Bangladesh v England Second Test, starts today, Dhaka, 05:00

IT’S not long since people were questioning Jonny Bairstow’s place in the England team. But after a Test in which he produced arguably his finest performance behind the stumps and broke a significant record, he is full of optimism.

Whatever you think of Bairstow the wicketkeeper, there’s no arguing he had an excellent match in Chittagong, where he kept immaculately in brutal, unforgiving conditions bar one leg-side drop.

He also delivered with the bat, as he seems to have done ever since his maiden Test hundred at Cape Town in January. In fact, Bairstow’s 99 runs against Bangladesh in Chittagong took his tally for 2016 to 1,091 in Tests, seeing him overtake former England coach Andy Flower to claim the record for most runs in a calendar year by a wicket- keeper.

Flower, who set the mark of 1,045 in 2000, had headed a list that includes AB de Villiers, Kumar Sangakkara, Adam Gilchrist, MS Dhoni and Matt Prior.

Bairstow then is in good company and, after a period where his keeping came under the microscope, he has managed to improve his glovework without affecting his batting.

That’s a balancing act Jos Buttler found too difficult to deal with, hence why Bairstow took the gloves from him for the final Test against Pakistan in Sharjah last winter.

The Yorkshireman’s numerous drops during the subsequent tour of South Africa led to a clamour for him to lose the gloves and be retained as a specialist batsman. Buttler’s outrageous limited-overs form added fuel to that particular fire.

However, now 27, Bairstow is more mature and driven by the hurt he felt when he was dropped by England at the end of the 2013-14 Ashes tour, when he had been parachuted in as keeper for the final two Tests in place of Matt Prior.