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Jonny Bairstow's breathtaking brilliance has been unlocked by England's new regime

Jonny Bairstow's breathtaking brilliance has been unlocked by England's new regime - GETTY IMAGES
Jonny Bairstow's breathtaking brilliance has been unlocked by England's new regime - GETTY IMAGES

Given the war in Europe, soaring cost of living and imminence of a recession, there may never have been a time when it has been more urgent for England’s cricketers to entertain. After the two world wars, and during Covid lockdowns, it was sufficient to play cricket, but the national Test team under Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum are now giving us something more: sport which is inspired.

When England collapsed, as so often before, to 21 for four during the afternoon, innumerable members of the population would have sighed, dispirited. At 6pm Jonny Bairstow hit a perfect straight-drive to bring up a century which must have left many a person outside Headingley euphoric.

If England’s middle order can launch pyrotechnic entertainment from that base - and from 93 for four at Trent Bridge - they might play a few shots if they should ever make a sound start.

It is a marvel in itself to see a performer at the very peak of his powers, as Bairstow has been in the last fortnight - and it has been a long time coming.

Back in 2012, in only his fourth Test, he replaced the suspended Kevin Pietersen as a specialist bat, and made not only a defensive 95 but a sumptuously stroke-filled 54 against South Africa when they were in the process of becoming world Test champions; and firstly at Trent Bridge and now here, Bairstow as a specialist batsman has finally been fulfilled.

If it has taken him until the age of 32, when most elite batsmen peak the other side of 30, then Bairstow has endured more ups and downs than most people, both in his personal life and on the field, where the debate on whether or not he should keep wicket has been constant.

One of the most astonishing days in the annals of England’s Test cricket, this yet bore a remarkable similarity to the Auckland Test of March 2018 - up to a point. England on that occasion were dismissed for 58 by Trent Boult and Tim Southee, again swinging the new ball with superlative skill on a warm and humid afternoon; and they died wondering, trapped in their creases, passively, with their boots on, including Stokes and Bairstow.

This same pair made sure that would not be repeated after Boult and Southee had breached the defences of Zak Crawley and Ollie Pope, through the gate, and dismissed Alex Lees and Joe Root with world-class deliveries.

Stokes’s reaction was too gung-ho - nobody has ever made a Test hundred out of regularly running down the pitch - but this was an excess of virtue, too much boldness. To have gone down the pitch to New Zealand’s swing bowlers three or four times, then quit when he was ahead, would have been enough to make his point and make them pitch shorter.

Ben Stokes shows his disappointment at his dismissal - GETTY IMAGES
Ben Stokes shows his disappointment at his dismissal - GETTY IMAGES

If a major criticism has to be made of England’s cricket in this Test, it was the tactic of asking Overton to bang the second new ball halfway down on the second morning. The sky was as clouded for England’s seamers as it was for New Zealand’s swing bowlers in the afternoon. All England had to do was to invite Stuart Broad to start proceedings instead of Overton, and to pitch as full as he and Matthew Potts had done on the first morning.

Less than 38 overs later, in any event, Bairstow and Jamie Overton had transformed the game - and, to some degree, the national mood - by clubbing 209 runs.

Bairstow’s stand with Stokes at Trent Bridge had been the third-fastest century partnership of all time. The fastest came on a drop-in pitch in the old rugby stadium in Christchurch, which barely counts. The second fastest was orchestrated by? Brendon McCullum, with Corey Anderson, at the new Christchurch ground on a proper pitch. For inspiration Bairstow had no need to look further than his captain, coach, and inside himself.

Bairstow, buzzing since Trent Bridge, had been mortified to drop a slip catch in the morning, and exhilarated to take the final catch of New Zealand’s innings after pirouetting and diving at long-on.

He kept himself fired up by telling spectators behind the arm to sit down. But the wider context was the change in leadership, the chemistry which has unlocked this elixir.

It has enabled a complex character to scale new heights, and bat with as much breathtaking brilliance as the Pietersen he replaced a decade ago: in other words, as brilliantly as any right-handed England batsman ever has.