We’ve let Root down, admits Bairstow
L England keeper says only way to regain trust is to start winning
Jonny Bairstow admits England’s Ashes tourists have let captain Joe Root down with their off-the-field behaviour and need to start winning back the trust of their supporters.
Bairstow found himself in the spotlight after the first Test defeat in Brisbane, where one strand of Australia’s sledging centred on his curious “headbutt” greeting for their opener Cameron Bancroft at the start of England’s tour in a Perth bar.
The wicketkeeper had to contend with unwanted headlines over that episode, which also resulted in a midnight tour curfew imposed by England and Wales Cricket Board director Andrew Strauss. Yet on England’s return to Perth, 2-0 down already and in danger of losing the Ashes in this week’s third Test at the WACA, there was further controversy when 10 of Root’s squad ventured back to the very same bar and found more trouble.
Ben Duckett poured beer over the head of record national wicket-taker James Anderson and was subsequently handed a maximum fine, sent a final written warning about his conduct and banned from playing in any remaining Englandlionsfixturesbeforethey return home on 17 December.
Asked at a Yorkshire Tea quiz night event in Perth whether the players feel they have let Root down, Bairstow said: “I think everyone realises that is something we have done. Not just him, but we move on from that now, and that is something that has happened and been dealt with.
“We’ve got a chance as a group of men to go out there and front up. We’ve got to put in a performance that is worthy of us winning at the WACA.”
Bairstow also insists all is not yet lost in the Ashes series.
“We’re 2-0 down, and it is a situation you don’t want to be in,” he added. “At the same time we’re not completely out of it – we’ve got three opportunities to go and do something special.”
It will be an astonishing turnaround if England do manage to win in Perth, for only the second time since 1970, and somehow retain the urn in Melbourne and Sydney too.
Bairstow acknowledges, though, that improvement on the pitch as well as off is nonnegotiable if the squad are to earn back the support of those who doubt them at present.
“We need to rebuild the trust we had built over the last few years as a team,” said the Yorkshireman.
“That starts on Thursday morning. “You rebuild it by winning games of cricket. That is what we’ve got to do, and what has got to happen.”
Former Ashes-winning captain Michael Vaughan , meanwhile, insists that the next player who causes off-thefield controversy should be sent home.
“To think you’ve gone back to the same bar where the Bairstow incident happened, the first night you’re back in town, it’s just stupid,” said BT Sport Ashes pundit Vaughan.
“You can’t fathom the mentality of a group of people who suddenly say ‘Right, we’re going out, we’ve found a venue, and you know what, we’re going back the Avenue bar’.”
He is astounded at the naivety of England’s recreational behaviour. “You have one or two bad eggs and, let’s be honest, they act like students when they go out – big trays of shots,” he said.
Vaughan added: “I would question the senior boys who were in that bar. They are the role models of the Lions, that all those young players should be looking up to.
“It’s got to the stage that every single England cricketer needs to be sat in a room and (told) if you bring any bad PR on the team you just get sent home.