Bairstow hit 140 and took nine catch in Headingley Test
Monday 23 May 2016 09:07, UK
A Test match century on his home ground, nine dismissals behind the stumps and a Man of the Match award in a Test for the first time - life for Jonny Bairstow is pretty good right now.
However, the Yorkshireman's second century in the longest form of the game is but a continuation of some sublime form since the start of the 2015 English season, which actually kicked off with a duck in Abu Dhabi in the annual MCC versus champion county fixture.
Since then though, Bairstow has played in 26 first-class games - for Yorkshire and England - and amassed an incredible 2,394 runs which only Australian Adam Voges has surpassed by just 141 runs, but in five more matches.
And if you make a comparison to the time taken for Bairstow to score the equivalent amount of runs previously, you are forced to go back to August 2012, a full two and a half years ago.
Also, since March 2015, Bairstow has hit nine first-class centuries, more than any other batsman in the world and one more than the highly prolific Australian skipper Steve Smith.
It should not be forgotten, in the hubbub of his outstanding batting innings that Bairstow too claimed nine dismissals behind the stumps and, but for a drop on the third morning, could have joined AB de Villiers as the only other to score a century and take 10 keeping scalps.
It was truly an unforgettable match and occasion for Bairstow as it came on his home Headingley ground, in front of his mother Janet, a stalwart of cricket for many years and cricket administrator for Yorkshire CCC.
In eight matches at Headingley since the start of the 2015 season, Bairstow has cracked 1,018 runs at 92.54 runs each, including five centuries in 12 innings. His nearest 'challenger' is Yorkshire captain Andrew Gale, who sits a full 443 runs behind him on 575 (average 38.33) in nine games.
But it has been in 2016 that his record at Headingley has gone through the stratosphere - or should that be the stat-osphere!
Three matches, four innings, 589 runs, three centuries and an average of 147.25! Quite incredible figures and it is not even the end of May yet.
England will be hoping that he will be able to continue this form for a long time to come.
Watch Bairstow and England take on Sri Lanka in the second Investec Test at Chester-le-Street from 10am on Friday, live on Sky Sports 2 HD.
