Bairstow: ‘I’m fine, now let’s move on’
JONNY Bairstow insists he is feeling fine after copping the brunt of a sledging barrage from Australia during the Ashes opener.
Bairstow was needled during the first Test at the Gabba, where most of Australia’s chat focused on him headbutting Cameron Bancroft at a Perth bar shortly after the tourists arrived for the Ashes.
Bairstow appeared subdued and almost distressed behind the stumps on day five of the series opener, having woken up to hundreds of headlines after the public learned of his late-night misdeed.
England opted against punishing the wicketkeeper but slapped a midnight curfew on the entire squad. The 28-yearold suggested at Adelaide Oval yesterday he was feeling “fine, absolutely fine”.
“It’s been good to get to Adelaide, really exciting with the pink-ball Test,” Bairstow told the BBC before play.
“Played a bit of golf and played all right, so always nice to get away from everything.
“Obviously last week there were some things that were brought up that hopefully don’t need bringing up again – and we can move on.”
Steve Smith and Peter Handscomb both indicated last week they will continue to sledge the opposition.
The second Test has featured plenty of spite, most notably Smith’s verbal battle with Stuart Broad and Jimmy Anderson plus Broad’s animated celebration of Handscomb’s wicket.