THE LONG ROAD BACK
Taxing journey for Bairstow
JONNY BAIRSTOW endured a marathon journey to rejoin England’s crusade in India – including a seven-hour bus transfer with no comfort breaks.
To comply with social distancing and Covid-secure protocols, Bairstow’s return to the Test squad, from which he was jettisoned last month, was a 24-hour test of endurance ahead of next week’s third Test.
With the series level at 1-1, and England’s batsmen befuddled by spin, 31-year-old Bairstow is expected to be parachuted back into the top three in Ahmedabad.
But he admitted the logistics, and lack of fresh air, were “mentally taxing” on a passage to India with pace bowler MarkWood.
Bairstow said: “The journey back out was four hours down to Heathrow, where we nearly broke down, which was interesting, then we had the flight out to Bangalore.
“We arrived there, had our tests and had to wait in the airport for our results to be negative – and then we had a seven-and-a-half hour bus journey across India to Chennai. We weren’t allowed to stop on that journey, either.
“When we arrived in the hotel we went straight to our bedrooms, where unfortunately there wasn’t any fresh air, which made the quarantine period tough.
“We went through that, all the tests came back negative and we rejoined the group a couple of days ago.
“You’ve been quarantined at home effectively because you don’t want to contract the virus for your loved ones
within your family but also because then you can’t board a plane to come out to rejoin the tour. But then you’re on a plane with people you’ve never met, and then you get to the airport and you’re greeted by a lot of cricketloving Indian fans.
“You’re then quarantined in your rooms hoping you haven’t caught anything on the journey over because you’d be in the room for another 14 days so it is quite mentally taxing.”
Bairstow, who gave up a lucrative stint at the T20 Big Bash in Australia to answer England’s SOS, played a crucial role at No3 to help them win the Test series 2-0 in Sri Lanka.
Former England batsman Sir Geoffrey Boycott said England should be “ashamed” of the way they treated Bairstow, who has not complained publicly about missing the first two Tests in India.
He said: “There is a reason why I went to Sri Lanka and there’s a reason why I am here in India.
“That is hopefully to do well and play Test cricket for England – and by doing well, you get rewarded by earning your red-ball contract back.”
Sam Curran will not rejoin the England Test squad as planned for the fourth Test against India.
His journey would require more than one commercial flight, bringing additional concerns over possible exposure to coronavirus.
The Surrey all-rounder will now join the white-ball group’s private charter flight on February 26.