Thursday 29 December 2016 12:32, UK
Jonny Bairstow's record-breaking 2016 has set the standard for the New Year.
Not content with scoring more Test runs in a calendar year than any wicketkeeper in history, Bairstow also had a stellar international campaign with the gloves.
Here are some of his highlights - as well as a few words about them from the man himself…
Bairstow's super stats
70 - Most dismissals by an England wicketkeeper in a year (beating Matt Prior's 56 in 2010) with 66 catches and four stumpings
70 - Most dismissals by any wicketkeeper in a year (beating Ian Healy's 67 in 1993 and Mark Boucher's 67 in 1998)
399 runs - Shared in world Test record partnership for the sixth wicket with Ben Stokes against South Africa at Cape Town
1,470 - Most runs by an England wicketkeeper in a year (beating Prior's 777 in 2012)
1,470 - Most runs by any wicketkeeper in a year (beating Andy Flower's 1,045 in 2000)
1,470 - Ended up just short of Michael Vaughan's record 1,481 runs for England in a year. Only Joe Root, with 1,477 scored more in 2016
New Year Fireworks
Talk about starting the year with a bang!
Bairstow described day two of the second Test against South Africa in Cape Town as probably the best day of his life after he clubbed a maiden Test century and shared a record sixth-wicket stand with Ben Stokes (258). Bairstow was unbeaten on 150 from 191 balls when Alastair Cook declared on 629-6 having shared a staggering partnership of 399 with Stokes. He cut a visibly emotional figure after reaching three figures with a boundary.
What Jonny said: "There have been a lot of ups and downs so it is a special day, not just for myself but the people and my family that have helped me along the way. It was always going to be emotional, with my grandpa passing away last year and it approaching the anniversary of my dad's death, so I am delighted to score my century in the New Year's Test. It's great to play Test cricket - it tests you all the way through, so to come out with 150 is hopefully the start of a long career."
A Heady Triumph
Bairstow had a Headingley homecoming to remember, scoring crisply in conditions that troubled others to rack up 140 out of a total of 298 while batting at seven.
In short, he appeared to be playing a different game despite coming to the wicket with England in a whole heap of trouble at 83-5 and steering the innings to safety with Alex Hales (86) offering solid, if less fluent assistance. The only blip came when he had 70 when Nuwan Pradeep shelled a return catch. Anderson rather took the headlines at the close of play after obliterating Sri Lanka with 5-16 before stumps but the stunning stat of the day was that Bairstow, in four innings at Headingley for county and country in 2016, had scored 589 runs at an average of 147.25.
What Jonny said: "I didn't tell myself too much when I came in at 83-5 - you don't want to change too much about the way you have been playing so I didn't consciously adapt anything. I was slightly nervous in the nineties - if you're not in that situation then I think there's something wrong with you - but thankfully I was able get over the line. The runs Hales scored and the length of time he batted was imperative for us as we set a total that helped us win the game."
Lauded at Lord's
Bairstow was averaging over 106 in his six Test appearances of 2016 after racking up an unbeaten 167 at the Home of Cricket after once again going in with England struggling, on 86-4.
The No 6 had his own moments of fortune - principally when he was dropped on 11 by Shaminda Eranga at mid-wicket. Bairstow found an admirable foil as he went about compiling his second score of over 150 in Tests in Chris Woakes, who completed his maiden Test fifty to help England up to and beyond the 400 mark only for the match to eventually fizzle out into a draw because of rain.
What Jonny said: "In the past I was over-analysing things and getting far too technical. Now, though, I am standing relaxed at the crease, watching the ball, and letting the flow of the bat go through the ball. I used to play the ball slightly further in front of me and push at the ball, but now I am playing it underneath my eye line a bit later. It's been a journey - I've gone away, worked on things, re-evaluated and trusted myself. If I get left out now I've gone about it the way I want to go about it, not how other people want to go about it."
Watch India and England go head-to-head in white-ball cricket in 2017, starting with the first ODI on Sunday 15th January from 8.30am on Sky Sports 2.
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