Jonny Bairstow will be determined to do something special to mark his takeover at the Hundred Club in England this week.
His 100th Test occasion in Dharamshala might be a stalemate against India, but Jonny will regard it as a fabulous milestone, not so much for himself but for his family.
I know her mother, Janet, very well because she worked as a cricket administrator in Yorkshire for a long time, while my wife Diana held a similar position in Lancashire.
Janet is a real character and did very well raising her two children, Becky and Jonny, after the family tragedy that took their father David from them at such a young age.
She made sure they had every opportunity to succeed in their chosen careers and I know Jonny will dedicate this match to his mother and late father. David Bairstow was someone I played with and against. Wonderful company, a sociable boy who always had a lot to say.
Jonny Bairstow will make his 100th Test for England this week in Dharamshala.
His father, David Bairstow, pictured keeping the Yorkshire wicket during a match against Middlesex at Lord’s.
Bairstow has had a tough series, with the keeper failing to reach a half-century so far during this series.
Roses matches were difficult affairs, with nothing given on the field, but in the seventies and eighties there was a social side too, and Bluey, as everyone called him, led Headingley’s charge at the stumps , leaving the ground to go. he walks up St Michael’s Road to the Original Oak pub for a couple of pints and a game of bowls at the back.
He also possessed one of the strongest voices I have ever heard, emphasized by an incident during a tour of South Africa.
I was the captain, Bluey was the goalkeeper. We were playing a match at Newlands and, as he played, he broke the silence with a thunderous remark: “Look at those people on the top of that hill.” Hill? It was Table Mountain, which is the backdrop to some of the most scenic terrain in the world.
Jonny’s first Test hundred also fell below that ‘hill’ in Cape Town – an unbeaten 150 in 2016, somewhat overshadowed by Ben Stokes’ double century, but still a very moving innings.
Now he is a father himself, although I don’t expect that to stop him from being a fairly emotional player.
It’s had a moment or two, hasn’t it? Like breaking out of her circle for no apparent reason at Lord’s last year. And her celebrations, always in tribute to her father and other family members, go off the scale. He lets it all out and I don’t mind that at all.
Forget the position he is batting for England now, I feel like he has followed in his father’s footsteps as a belligerent number 7. Bluey came in, five wickets down, wanting to move on, and Jonny has always wanted to be a goalkeeper. with the family trait of offensive hitting.
Bairstow (centre) was sent off by Alex Carey at Lord’s last summer after he came out of his crease for no apparent reason.
The 34-year-old celebrated his century during England’s second Test against New Zealand in 2022.
Being a wicketkeeper-batsman, reaching seven, suits him perfectly and the statistics back it up. Yes, of his 12 Test tons, seven have come in his 44 matches as a front-order batsman, but he averages 34.95 in that role, compared to 37.63 in his 55 matches as a Test wicketkeeper.
I first met Jonny, by his surname, when he burst onto the first-team scene with Yorkshire, but it was when he made his debut for England in a rain-soaked ODI against India in Cardiff in 2011 that it really hit home. note.
Only 10 men have scored a hundred in their 100th Test, Joe Root being one of them.
England needed 75 to win off 50 balls when he reached the crease and showed everyone how he intended to play at the highest level with a player of the match, unbeaten 41 off just 21 balls, helping his team progress to a six-wicket victory.
I never doubted that he was a player who was going to achieve it. Because? Because of his style: totally selfless, with the ability to change the game. It is very important in the tests to put pressure on the opposition again.
Having been an international coach, I can tell you that his name will appear on the board in the rival locker room, because he can really hurt you with the speed of his goal.
With an average of 36 and a success rate of 59, he is someone who influences the results. Those numbers are close to being ideal for a goalkeeper.
And to critics of his glove work, I ask: was Adam Gilchrist Australia’s best wicketkeeper when he played Test cricket? Was Mahendra Singh Dhoni the best of India? Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara? Our own Matt Prior? New Zealand’s Brendon McCullum?
No, and in each case their value to the team in front of the stumps surpassed what they did behind them.
The same goes for England, and they really come into their own by linking up with an existing batsman in the middle or hanging on to the tail.
Bairstow’s value to England, and he really stands out linking up with an existing batsman in the middle or trailing off.
Bairstow made his England debut in a rain-soaked ODI against India in Cardiff in 2011, scoring an unbeaten 41 off 21 balls to help his team to a six-wicket victory.
Think back to that fabulous, unbeaten 99 that led the lower order against Australia in Manchester last July. He is such a powerful player.
The red-headed Bairstow is also a keen griller and invites his team-mates every time England have a Test in Leeds.
His mother sent me a photo of the magnificent campfire area at the back of his house, so I quickly built a replica using old logs that had been scattered around my forest and sent him the photographic evidence for his approval.
Even if I do say so myself, my custom-made Jonny-style seating area looks great and cost me nothing. Zero. Null. Nothing. You see, I’m still learning to live in Yorkshire, and these things are important.
You might even go out and buy matches and light a fire this week. After all, it is a special occasion.