Jonny Bairstow set to make 100th Test appearance for England, against India in Dharamsala from Thursday; team-mate Joe Root tells Sky Sports Cricket Podcast about Bairstow's resilience and kindness - and shares how a talking to from Sir Geoffrey Boycott inspired an immediate response
Thursday 7 March 2024 06:56, UK
Ahead of Jonny Bairstow playing his 100th Test, against India in Dharamsala, long-time England and Yorkshire team-mate Joe Root told the Sky Sports Cricket Podcast about his friend's greatest traits - and how dangerous he is with a point to prove...
Jonny was always the superstar. He had the difficult tag of following in his father's footsteps but he always lived up to it.
He was someone who always excelled and was top of the class as we were coming through at Yorkshire.
He went from strength to strength and it has been great to play alongside him for so long. I have a number of stories we could retell, probably at the end of his career. You could sit down forever.
He was a very talented sportsman growing up - especially if you ask him! He has got a lot of stick this week for playing off too high a handicap as he has been battering everyone on the golf course!
He is also one of those genuinely kind people that wants to do everything for you. It might not always come across like that on the screen but he has a really good heart and is someone that will always have your back and look after you.
You know how much it means to him to play for England and it will be an emotional week for him.
You will see when we huddle and there is that presentation every bit of emotion he will be feeling. It will be nice to be there to share that with him. You couldn't write a better script for Jonny Bairstow.
He likes to wear his emotions on his sleeve which I think makes him what he is. It brings the best out of him.
A good example of that was at the end of one of the seasons at Yorkshire when he had just broken into the first team.
Me and Gary Ballance were coming through in the second team and we were all called into a meeting with the president at the time which was Sir Geoffrey Boycott.
He sat us all down and said to me and Gary, 'you are playing very well in the second team, keep working hard, keep doing certain things right and it won't be long until you get in the first team.'
He then said, 'Jonny, you have had an exceptional year in the second team and come into the first team and got four or five brilliant fifties - but I have got 151 first-class hundreds so if you want to borrow one you can because you have not looked like converting one of those!'
I think one of Jonny's very next games he scored a double hundred. That is one of the examples of him going out and showing everyone how good he is, making a point when needed.
We have had numerous coaches who have wanted to balance the Test side and set up differently. With Jonny, you can play him as a batter, play him as a keeper-batter.
He can offer so much and has such a wide range of skillsets that it can be misinterpreted at times what his best strengths are.
We have seen in his best innings it has not been the same mould in which he has gone out and scored those big runs. His 150 at Cape Town against South Africa was a very different look to the blistering hundred he got at Trent Bridge against New Zealand in 2022.
Similarly, the hundred he got on our last tour of Australia had a very different look to the hundred he scored in Sri Lanka at No 3.
He has had to deal with a lot of change and being moved around, whether throughout the order, keeping or playing just as a batter.
That is part and parcel of international cricket. You have to fit into the team and to go on and play 100 Test matches proves that he has been able to do that for long periods of time and offered a huge amount to English cricket.
It also shows the resilience of the player to be able to come back and almost have to remodel yourself into a different role within the team [from wicketkeeper-batter at No 7 to specialist batter in top six] and still have such an impact.
He has played some vital innings since that major leg break he had a couple of years ago. It is amazing for him to come back from that as he has done.
You also have to factor in that for a long time he has been a major part of all three teams - Test, ODI and T20 - and the wear and mental fatigue that can have on players.
Also to be skilful enough to go between the formats very quickly and adapt to that, not that let affect your form or mental state going into each different one.
To continually be consistent is a very hard thing to do and throughout his career, he has always been at the top of at least one or two of those formats. That is an incredible feat.
Follow text commentary from day one of the fifth Test between India and England live on skysports.com and the Sky Sports App from 3.30am on Thursday March 7 (4am first ball).
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