Bairstow ready for biggest summer ever

JONNY BAIRSTOW has urged his team-mates to keep up the World Cup feel-good factor in English cricket’s biggest ever summer.

Bairstow has hardly had time to catch his breath following the dramatic finale that was broadcast on free-to-air TV that helped capture the imagination of the country.

But the wicket-keeper is confident the World Cup legacy will not be lost if Joe Root’s England side fail to win back the Urn.

“I don’t think you can ever take the memories of the World Cup win away,” said Bairstow.

“People watching in Trafalgar Square or in the pub or at home, the euphoria went around the whole country.

“I don’t think that will be lost if we didn’t win the Ashes.

“There have been series since the 2005 Ashes but everyone remembers it fondly – there have been World Cups since the rugby win in 2003, but the impact of it wasn’t lost.

“The 2003 rugby team didn’t have a huge tournament or a different format to get ready for two weeks after their triumph, but that’s the schedule we have.

“It is a really tough challenge for us, but it is important to keep the momentum going

100 per cent.

“It could be the biggest summer in the history of English cricket if we win the Ashes and the World Cup.

“Of course, it will have a great effect on every level of the game if we were able to pull it off whether it be men’s, women’s, disability cricket or people just taking the game up for the first time.

“There will be a longer-lasting effect of the World Cup win beyond this summer, but we want to win the Ashes as well and that is the exciting part of what is such a huge summer.”

Bairstow played a key role in England’s maiden global 50-over tournament win and is desperate to enjoy more of the same during the

Ashes.

That is despite picking up the first pair of ducks in his 64-Test career in England’s victory over Ireland at Lord’s last week.

There were some who thought Bairstow should have followed the lead of Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler and miss the one-off Test at Lord’s.

But there are no regrets from the 29-year-old who got back into the rhythm of his wicket-keeping.

“I didn’t want to be going into the first Ashes Test having not kept,” he said.

“I wanted to get back keeping and the rhythm of it, that was the main reason for playing in the Ireland game.

“Keeping in white ball is different to keeping in red ball, and I only did it in the series against Pakistan so I needed to get back into the rhythm.

“The shuttles, the moving, getting your angles with the fields. I didn’t feel like it was too much for me and that was the first pair I’ve had in 12 years so I’ll take that again in 12 years time.”