Jonny at five after another shake-up
Bairstow moves up order for Kiwi clash
Jonny Bairstow will step straight from the IPL into another change of position in the England batting order this week knowing there may yet be another twist to his test tale.
England will go for the experience of Bairstow at no5 in the first test of the summer at Lord’s against new Zealand over the promise of run-laden newcomer Harry Brook.
But it is back at no7, complete with gloves, that Bairstow could yet end up unless Ben Foakes finally nails down his place in this three-test series against the world champions.
such is the state of flux around a man who has played 83 tests but has never seemed fully established in the red-ball set-up, despite eight centuries in numerous roles.
it was at no 6 that Bairstow made the two centuries last winter — in sydney and antigua — that earned him the nod from England’s new regime for thursday’s first test. this comes despite the fact that fellow yorkshireman Brook has made an outstanding case for a debut.
new captain Ben stokes’s desire to return to no 6 while asking his predecessor Joe root to go back to no 4 leaves Bairstow sandwiched between the two, and insisting he is fresh and ready to go despite a non-stop winter that ended with Punjab Kings just over a week ago.
‘it’s not that different,’ insisted Bairstow, 32, at Lord’s yesterday of the move from no6 to no5 as England, in their rather grey and drab looking new training gear, practised under the guidance of stokes and new coach Brendon McCullum for the first time.
‘Last time i was at no5 i was keeping for the majority of the time too so that adds another dimension. you could put that middle order in any order and it doesn’t make much difference. adaptability is the key and we’re excited about what lies ahead.’
For Bairstow adaptability means another switch from white to red-ball cricket without any match practice, a fact of modern-day life but one that rather undermines the achievement of Brook making 840 runs in six County Championship matches so far this season.
‘we’ve seen this many times and we have to make a lot of transitions with the amount of cricket we play,’ said a lean-looking Bairstow.
‘i will be 22 yards away from a red ball coming down at me rather than a white one. it’s the same for the Kiwis as well. More of them than us have come straight from the IPL.’
For all Bairstow’s insistence he is happy back in a no5 position
where he averages 27.97 in 36 test innings, it is the prospect of him taking back the gloves and a no 7 role where he averages 37.69 in 44 innings that provides an intriguing sub-plot to this series.
Sportsmail understands Foakes will be one of the England players under the most scrutiny against new Zealand after he failed to grab his chance with both hands in the Caribbean.
Bairstow (below) will be asked to prioritise test cricket this summer, and he is looking forward to playing under McCullum, a former keeper and attacking batter.
‘He’s someone i’ve always wanted to work with,’ said Bairstow.
‘i’ve played against him and grown up watching him and i’ve always been intrigued by him. i’ve looked up to Baz in many ways for the way that he plays his cricket.’ and there was never any chance, Bairstow insists, of England resting him here even though he has been on the road all winter and was one of the players who was most affected by the Covid-induced bubble life of the previous two years. ‘i feel good,’ he added. ‘i’m happy where i’m at physically and the end of bubbles has added an amount of freshness because it’s nice to be able to do normal things again. ‘Just to be able to leave our hotel and have normal conversations instead of on Zoom. i’m a social person and i’ve found it tough. ‘Hopefully come thursday we’ll be fizzing and so will Lord’s.’