Jonny Bairstow on keeping the gloves: 'I want to be involved, not down at fine leg getting abused'

Jonny Bairstow is not going to miss the opportunity to have another chuckle at his friend’s expense.

“He copped some stick for it,” says Bairstow, of his Yorkshire and England team-mate Joe Root’s now famous ‘bat drop’ celebration after securing the recent ODI series victory over India.

“What do you expect if you do that and then come back into the dressing room?”

For his part, Root has described the moment, which also marked his record 13th ODI hundred, as “a car crash… literally the most embarrassing thing” he has done on the cricket field.

“I reckon it is,” says Bairstow. “It was quite out of character, but it is great.

“A lot of things have been said about him, but the way he has come out and played in these last two games gives him a massive amount of confidence going into the Test series.” 

If the white-ball matches over the past few weeks were meant to be the starter to the upcoming main course of a five-Test series, this summer promises to provide quite the feast.

While India edged the T20I series 2-1 it was England, guided by successive unbeaten centuries from Root, who claimed ODI honours with their own 2-1 victory. Now comes the most intriguing clash, which sees the world No 1 Test nation up against an England side that has slipped down the rankings to fifth.

It is not hard to envisage Virat Kohli, India’s combative captain, replicating Root’s ‘bat drop’ celebration if a match-winning moment arises in the coming weeks, but Bairstow wrinkles his nose and dismisses any notion that it will have provided extra incentive for the tourists.

“Kohli will be motivated no matter what, but we are motivated in our individual ways too,” he says.

“It’s going to be a tough Test series but it's really exciting. It’s five Tests to end the summer.

“It's going to be grueling, but at the same time it is a nice way to finish.”

The shift from white to red-ball cricket also brings about a significant change for Bairstow on a personal level, reclaiming his place behind the stumps and trading places with Jos Buttler, who will fill the role of athletic outfielder.

It is an unconventional arrangement, with neither player dropping out of the side, but one that both have come to accept with the same grace as goalkeepers Ray Clemence and Peter Shilton, who spent much of the late 1970s alternating as England’s No 1.

“I definitely want to be keeping in white-ball cricket, but we have a settled one-day squad,” says Bairstow, speaking at SIXPAD Training Gear’s UK launch. “It is what it is.

“We are happy with the balance we have in the side and our individual goals within the team.

“Everyone appreciates the differences between the formats. There’s no: ‘I should be doing this, I should be doing that’. Collectively we are working well and making progress.

“It’s exciting because I haven’t done it for a few months and I am going into the Test series fresh and raring to go and ready to keep wicket again. I really enjoy that.”

After a superb couple of months that has seen him plunder 511 runs off 363 balls as an ODI opener, the shift to the longer form of the game also sees Bairstow drop down the batting order to five.

It is a taxing dual role that few have managed successfully before, with only 10 wicketkeepers batting in the top five for a dozen matches or more.

The detrimental effect of squatting behind the stumps all day is one that statistics suggest is hard to shake off – Alec Stewart, for example, averaged 33.06 as a keeper in the top five and 47.17 as a specialist batsman – but Bairstow understandably does not want to relinquish either responsibility.

“I’ve batted at number five for 10 years for Yorkshire and average 47 [45.97],” he says.

“Whatever is best for the balance of the team. If it’s right that I bat at five, I bat at five. If it’s right that I bat at seven, I bat at seven. If it’s right that I bat at 11, I bat at 11.

“Wherever Joe and the coach want me to bat, your job is to go out and do your best for the team in whatever batting position. History is there to be changed.

“I enjoy being able to influence the game. That’s the best thing about it – that’s why you keep wicket, play fly-half at rugby and centre-midfield in football and hockey.

“That’s the reason we play the sport. I love it. You don’t want to be down at fine-leg being abused.”

Bairstow’s own Test average suggests he is at his best when batting before keeping, rather than coming to the crease after a stint behind the stumps.

“I don’t really think about it,” he insists. “You just crack on. It’s not something you can think too much about.

“You’re a bit more tired, you go back and have a bath after a long day. That’s about it.

“You still go out for dinner and the sun still comes up. You might be a bit more tired and a bit sore but you have a job to do.”

It is a job that Bairstow is determined to keep hold of.

Jonny Bairstow was at SIXPAD Training Gear’s latest product launch at their new Westfield London store to take on Cristiano Ronaldo’s ultimate fitness challenge. For more information about the SIXPAD product range visit www.sixpad.uk