Bairstow hits back with emotional century

JONNY Bairstow disclosed the difficulties which preceded his comeback century against Sri Lanka, revealing hours of rehabilitation, bad news from home and criticism all fed his emotional celebrations.

Bairstow (right) has only been out of the Test team for two matches, a football-related ankle injury sidelining him in Galle and the selectors’ reluctance to change a winning team keeping him out in Kandy.

Yet the highly charged reaction to his sixth hundred yesterday hinted at a deeper story — eyes bulging, bat and helmet discarded and a guttural holler of ‘yes’ seemingly combining to express pride, relief and a hint of righteous indignation.

His 110 in fiercely humid conditions at Colombo’s Sinhalese Sports Club was a remarkable effort, particularly against a backdrop of his unexpected move to the problem position of number three and the loss of his cherished wicketkeeping duties to Ben Foakes.

Speaking after England closed the first day of the Third Test on 312-7, the 29-year old revealed he had been affected by heartbreaking developments off the field: “Two friends have unfortunately passed away over the past couple of weeks. A lad that we played with on the academy at Yorkshire unfortunately passed away in his sleep and another friend of ours that we spent time with in Sydney passed away all of a sudden from a heart attack.”

Bairstow also appeared stung, either by the reaction to his injury or by his subsequent omission after working back to fitness. Quite possibly both.