“There is no stopping Jonny Bairstow. It is raining runs” declares Sky Sports’ Mel Jones as the Yorkshireman pulls yet another huge six in to the jubilant Trent Bridge crowd. When the second test of the 2022 England v New Zealand series reached day 5, you would have been forgiven for thinking this high scoring match was heading towards a draw or, if the English weather behaved, a New Zealand victory. To think that 8 hours later I would find myself celebrating a series win for England and singing a child friendly version of “Ohh Jonny Bairstow” in my living room was unimaginable. Jonny had other ideas though and, with the help of his new captain, had made it so.
BazBall was officially here. Any question marks over the coaching appointment of the Black Caps legend had been swiftly answered. It had been instantly embraced by players, spectators and pundits. England would go on to win this exhilarating series 3-0 and although there was times in each test where the game could have went either way, this was undoubtedly England’s most dominant series in a very long time.
Thanks to India deciding to do a runner before the conclusion of the 2021 test series, a decision they must regret with hindsight, the epic New Zealand series was not the end of the English test summer. The 5th test was rearranged to July 2022 and the visitors were given the same treatment as the tourists before them. A 7 wicket victory for England with Jonny Bairstow putting up a century in both innings. The entire side had embraced the new approach but none quite as much as the 33 year old.
The hype followed him all through the autumn and the anticipation was high leading up to the first test tour of Pakistan in almost two decades. Unfortunately as we entered the early winter period, we all came crashing down to earth when Jonny decided it would be a good idea to participated in a game of danger sport – a round of golf! A broken fibula meant a temporary halt to his dominance, he would go on to miss not only the Pakistan series but the following tour of New Zealand.
Despite him not travelling to Pakistan, this is where the Bairstow dilemma began. BazBall continued to dominate but it was a different Yorkshireman who would become the talk of the town. Young Harry Brook, one of England’s most exciting prospects in all formats seized the opportunity and finished as the series top scorer with 468 runs. The figures do not do justice as to how dominant he looked with the bat. He slotted in at 5 and made it look like he had been playing test cricket for a decade. A one off? Beginners luck? Finishing the following test series in New Zealand once again as top scorer suggests this boy is the real deal.
Which brings us to the heart of the Bairstow dilemma. Where do we put him for the upcoming Ashes series? Or do we put him anywhere at all? This was, unsurprisingly, the hot top being discussed on social media by cricket fans throughout the country. What was a surprise however, is that the tone of these discussions seem to be overwhelmingly negative.
For too long an England starting XI has either been completely predictable or we’ve been filling circular holes with squares. Now we find ourself in a position where we have so much talent who are playing exhilarating aggressive cricket that it’s no longer obvious where one of our greatest ever batsmen slots in. So what should we do?
Lets look at the silliest suggestion first – Jonny Bairstow not getting his place back. No. Just no. He is simply too good and as proven on many occasions, a match winner. He has already made a big score on his return to the Yorkshire seconds and is playing with the same attacking intent as last summer. For me, this is not an option.
Now on to what I consider the second silliest, but arguably the most common suggestion so far – Drop Foakes and give Jonny the gloves. Another hard no from me with no room to compromise. I am firm believer that you always select your best keeper regardless of what they do with the bat. Ben Foakes is England’s best keeper and arguably the best in the world. That is reason alone to not go down this route and I will argue until I am blue in the face that Ben is the second name on the teamsheet after his namesake captain. It would be remiss of me to also not mention the other fact that gets overlooked (deliberately in most cases) on social media; That Ben Foakes is a superb first class and international batsman capable of scoring big as well as dictating the tempo. So let’s put a line through that.
An unpopular suggestion, which gained more and more unpopularity as the winter progressed, was that Brook may be pushed back. I understand the argument. He’s young, he is still learning and the Ashes is a whole new level of pressure. I may have been in this camp towards the back end of 2022 but after those performances in New Zealand I am firmly back out. I am not only backing Harry to lead the run scoring charts this summer, I also expect it’s only a matter of time before he smashes the record for the fastest test century. Oh what I would give for it to happen in a match winning knock against that lot this summer.
Now on to possibly England’s most divisive player currently and the camp I find myself sat in as I type. The most frustratingly inconsistent opener on the planet, Zak Crawley. To just back up that claim of inconsistency, between starting this blog and it’s submission, Zak has batted in 6 innings scoring 91 (171), 3 (8), 0 (6), 12 (20), 170 (183) & 11 (19). This is synonymous with his test record. The same man who has breezed to a 267 and scored England’s fastest ever test century by an opener only boasts an average of 27.
I must add I believe he is an incredibly talented young man and I can see a big test cricket career ahead of him. It may however be detrimental to his confidence and development to keep forcing him in when he is struggling to score in a team which is scoring freely. Even the very positive and comfortable environment we hear about in the dressing room won’t stop the poor performances effecting him.
That now just leaves the question, can Jonny slot in as an opener? If I had been asked the same question a year or two ago I would have said no. I don’t think it would have suited the previous approach. However with the BazBall culture cemented amongst the team, with a mentality of attack from the first ball, he slots in nicely. Merely a hunch but Bairstow & Duckett as an opening partnership really excites me despite not being to put my finger on why I believe they will compliment each other.
Ben Stokes has already suggested he knows what the XI will be and I am sure he has considered a lot more than I have. Whatever the decision I hope everyone can get behind and support it. This is an incredibly exciting time to support the England test side and nothing would maximise that excitement like regaining the Ashes.