Bairstow: Good craic driving England on
Jonny Bairstow has opened up about opening up with Jason Roy, the partnership driving England’s bid for World Cup glory.
The pair are the bedrock of the team’s batting exploits, reeling off three successive century stands in the tournament to tee up Thursday’s World Cup semi-final at Edgbaston.
They have now reached three-figures 10 times in 32 innings together, with their average opening stand sitting at 67.70 – the highest in one-day international history for partnerships of 20 innings or more.
It is no surprise that England’s damaging back-to-back defeats, by Sri Lanka and Australia, came when Roy was absent with a torn hamstring. Not only does the Surrey man bring a fearless presence with him to the crease, he appears to bring the best out in Bairstow too.
The Yorkshireman averages 52.54 when they go out together, including seven of nine ODI hundreds, compared to 39.62 when he opens without Roy.
Bairstow, fresh from match-winning scores of 111 and 106 in his last two knocks, has a simple explanation.
“It’s just a good craic. That’s what it is. It’s genuinely good fun,” he said.
“It’s pretty relaxed, good fun and the communication is important all the way through. We just keep each other going, it’s nice, it’s relaxed, and we just try to crack on and do what we do.”
There is mutual belief too. Where some partnerships dovetail neatly, with one aggressor and one accumulator, Roy and Bairstow can bank on each other to keep the opposition under pressure as long as they are at the crease.
“Of course, you’ve got to have trust in each other, in an opening partnership. I’m sure that Andrew Strauss and Cooky (Alastair Cook) were the same when they opened in Tests, Matthew Hayden and Justin Langer were the same.
“Along the way there’s going to be ups and downs but throughout it you’ve got to have trust within yourselves.”
Given their rampant success it is easy to forget their union was one England happened upon somewhat by chance.
Roy and Alex Hales were first to pair up after the 2015 World Cup, but the former endured a slump in form that ended up with him being dropped for the Champions Trophy semi-final.
This week brings another semi, but now they go in fully established as a duo rather than scrapping for the same shirt.
Asked if that selection had put any strain on their relationship, Bairstow was clear.
“Absolutely not no, it’s the nature of sport,” he said. “It is part and parcel of it, you don’t get in every team. You bat where there’s an opportunity.”