Jonny Bairstow says the ‘proof will be in the pudding’ after a post-Ashes review pledged to pay greater heed to runs and wickets in county cricket in England selection.
Bairstow, 36, was the godfather of Bazball with his swashbuckling batting performances in 2022, scoring four hundreds and averaging in excess of 75, but was its highest-profile casualty when he was ditched two years ago this month following a fallow tour of India.
‘The proof is in the pudding. We will wait and see. You have got to give people chances,’ was the Yorkshire captain’s reaction to suggestions of a reconnect between the international team and the domestic game.
‘When you say connection, the question you would ask is why have they disconnected in the first place. If you are trying to rebuild something, you are admitting you have done something wrong previously. There are a lot of very gifted county players.
‘That was a huge opportunity in Australia, especially in that first Test match. They will kick themselves for that.’
Asked at Yorkshire’s media day if he himself retained hope of adding to his 287 England appearances, Bairstow said: ‘Judging by the last few years. I am not sure it is on their agenda. I don’t need to say whether it is on my agenda, I just need to focus on leading this great club, a great bunch of players and going out and scoring the runs I do. It will be an interesting question for you to pose to them if I do go out and score a couple of hundreds early season.’
One of the criticisms levelled at England during recent months, in which they lost six of 10 Tests against India and Australia, was a cosiness developing within the England environment.
‘As soon as you don’t have people chasing you up your back side you become comfortable and when you become comfortable you become complacent,’ said Bairstow.
Yorkshire team-mate Dom Bess also weighed into the issue, saying he felt a ceiling had been placed on international selection in the four years since he was last involved in an England squad.
‘I remember playing and always looking over my shoulder. That’s the brutality of international sport,’ said the 14-cap Test off-spinner.
‘Equally, if county cricketers felt there was no step up, if you’re not playing franchise cricket, you’re only ever boxed into county cricket.
’As a 28 year old now I’m still dreaming of playing for England, that’s why you play the game.’
Yorkshire cricket manager Gavin Hamilton suggested the mood around the domestic scene had been lifted following Monday’s briefing at Lord’s.
‘Obviously, there could be one, two, even three positions available in the Test team, which is exciting. It’s like what county cricket used to be at the start of the year,’ Hamilton said.
‘You know, if there’s a hugely successful Test team, you accept that you’re not going to get in, but it’s been frustrating, I can imagine, for players over the last two or three years and. I don’t want to say it was a closed shop, but it may have felt like that to some.’
There was also evidence on Tuesday that those currently in the set-up are feeling the pressure when Ben Duckett, 31, withdrew from representing Delhi at the Indian Premier League, risking a ban until 2029 as a result, to play for Nottinghamshire ahead of June’s Test series versus New Zealand.
‘I don’t know if I’m potentially saying goodbye to the IPL having never played in it,’ Duckett told the Daily Telegraph. ‘With the age I am now, it might be tough for me. But I’ve thought a lot about this, and know it’s the right decision for my career.’