Friday 23 June 2017 14:58, UK
Jonny Bairstow believes maturing as a person has allowed him to accept he may not always have a place in the England side.
The 27-year-old smashed an unbeaten 60 off just 35 balls as England defeated South Africa by nine wickets at the Ageas Bowl on Wednesday in the first of their three-match Twenty20 series.
It was his first international half-century in the format since 2012 as he has struggled to secure a regular place in the side.
The same can be said for one-day cricket, with Bairstow unused at the Champions Trophy until he was drafted in for the out of form Jason Roy in the semi-final defeat to Pakistan.
His place as wicketkeeper-batsman in the Test side is more secure but his performance in Southampton could now see him operate across all forms of the game, even if he must battle to make the starting line-up.
Asked how he deals with the uncertainty around his selection, Bairstow said: "By not worrying about it, that is the biggest thing.
"By being comfortable in yourself and in your surroundings, I think that is a major part to it and I think I have grown up a lot over the last three years.
"I'm not sure what I can put that down to but naturally you grow up from a boy to a man and learn different things, how to play, construct innings and go on different tours.
"I've been in squads, played and not played and been in different formats. If you pick every single bit of it apart you get yourself het up, there is more to life than that."
Bairstow intends to simply keep his head down and continue to plug away to make it difficult to be dropped.
"I'm happy with the way that I am playing and the way I am striking the ball," he added.
"If I am picked in the XI to play then fantastic, if not, there is nothing I can do about it.
"All I can do is keep my preparation good, try and score as many runs as I can and keep as well as I can.
"I will just keep doing exactly the same, work hard on the things you are going to face and keep trying to build on that. I like to think I'm still learning and there is some hard work coming off."
Watch the second Twenty20 international between England and South Africa in Taunton on Friday. Coverage begins on Sky Sports 2 HD at 4:30pm.
Grab a £14.99 Sky Sports Month Pass and enjoy all three Lions Test matches, The Open, England v South Africa and much, much more. It's an unmissable summer of sport on NOW TV.
