Big hitting and Headingley heroics – Jonny Bairstow’s best Test moments
The Yorkshireman is set to play his 100th Test, beginning on Thursday.
Jonny Bairstow is set to become the 17th member of England’s 100 Test club this week.
Head coach Brendon McCullum confirmed last week that the Yorkshireman will feature in the fifth Test against India, which gets under way in Dharamsala on Thursday.
Here, the PA news agency looks at some of Bairstow’s best moments as a Test cricketer.
South Africa v England (January 2016, Cape Town)
Bairstow had a number of false dawns, including a sparkling 95 in his fourth Test against the same opposition. Four years and 18 Tests later, Bairstow had his first international hundred but it was worth the wait. This Test is remembered for Ben Stokes going supersonic but Bairstow was no shrinking violet and contributed 150 not out to a world-record stand of 399 for the sixth wicket. A couple of days before the anniversary of the death of his father David – a former England and Yorkshire cricketer – Bairstow junior cemented his spot as a Test regular. Afterwards, he said: “I was thinking of my dad, my grandfather, who passed away last year, and my family – that was for those guys.”
England v Sri Lanka (May 2016, Leeds)
Sri Lanka v England (November 2018, Colombo)
An ankle injury sustained in a football warm-up had the knock-on consequence of Bairstow surrendering the wicketkeeping gloves for a few months to Ben Foakes. Restored to the side as a specialist batter for the final Test and into England’s problem number-three position, Bairstow defied Sri Lanka’s coterie of spinners and peeled off a masterful 110. Upon reaching three figures, a red-faced Bairstow let out an emotional roar and later hit out at those who had “castigated” him for the nature of his injury. Bairstow’s push up the order was short-lived but he helped England seal a famous 3-0 series whitewash.
England v New Zealand (June 2022, Nottingham)
England v India (July 2022, Birmingham)
