Jonny Bairstow 'ready for Test cricket' after Ashes call
Wednesday 22 July 2015 13:07, UK
Jonny Bairstow says he is happy with his form and ready to return to Test cricket after 18 months in the cold.
The Yorkshire batsman will bat at No 5 in the third Investec Ashes Test next week after replacing county colleague Gary Ballance in the England squad for Edgbaston.
Five County Championship hundreds this season - and a three-figure batting average - have earned Bairstow a call-up for his 15th cap.
The Ashes - Live
The 14th came in the final match of England's dismal Ashes tour of 2013/14 when he scored 18 and 0 in a 281-run defeat that sealed an Australia whitewash.
But the 25-year-old has since blossomed under Jason Gillespie at Yorkshire and played a series-winning innings in the final one-day international against New Zealand earlier this summer.
He told Sky Sports News HQ: "Naturally it's quite exciting, and I'm really looking forward to getting my teeth into it. I'm pretty pleased with the form I'm in.
"It's obviously going to be a different challenge with different expectations, but as long as I'm trying my best that's all I can do. I might get no runs, some runs, who knows?
"It was obviously a very tough and testing time, that series down under, but it was a couple of years ago now - the experiences you gain from that are going to enhance your game going forward and hopefully that has happened.
"It's an exciting time and something i'm really looking forward to."
Watch The Ashes live on Sky Sports on Sky Sports Ashes HD or watch with a NOW TV Sports Day Pass. Our Ashes Events Centre - the best of Sky Cricket's analysis at your fingertips - is available on our iPad app.
